Certainly Unexpected
by Victoria G
Summary: Buffy and Faith band together to fight a new threat, with help from an unexpected source
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

The murky stillness of the cemetery forced the blond slayer's poise to become uneasy. Her eyes scanned across the unnaturally quiet expanse. She could sense that there was something off. She could feel a presence that was familiar, yet completely new. The nervousness mounted within her as her eyes began to scan faster. She could feel this thing: its power. It was closer. With the wound from an earlier mishap with a knife-wielding vamp still freshly painful, the slayer knew she was not at full strength. She honed her senses; no it was not a vampire. A demon? No, it was not a demon. She began to calm herself and fell into a relaxed fighting stance, still searching. 

"I know you're there!" Buffy called out, trying not to let her nervousness show. There was no movement, just silence. "Come out damn it! I know you're there!" She was fairly shouting. This thing was really powerful; it emanated strength. She could feel whatever it was watching her. 

Then suddenly a second presence, a vampire, came rapidly into range. Buffy's eyes caught a ruffling in the bushes as the vampire flew out of them stopping only when his back smashed hard into a large headstone about twenty feet away. Buffy was stunned to say the least. The figure behind the bushes came sprinting out, a girl, Buffy realized. The girl ran at the vampire and the beast lunged with a snarl ripping the girl's legs out from under her. She was launched into the air and simply grabbed the edge of the headstone she pushed off backward landing on her feet. She jump kicked and her boots connected squarely with the unfortunate vampire's face. He stumbled backward holding his nose as she landed smoothly on the ground. Buffy watched from a safe distance as the girl drew a long slim sword from a sheath on her back. The blond slayer watched with curiosity as the girl neatly and with practiced elegance, beheaded the vampire. He shattered into dust a few seconds later. The girl grabbed her sword and reinserted it into the sheath. 

Buffy got her first good look at the girl, though her dark hair still covered her face as she advanced. She stopped, standing about ten feet away now, and reached to uncover her face. Buffy gasped in surprise. Taking in the black leather and dark hair and she wondered why she hadn't noticed before. Buffy gathered herself, before speaking to the sheepishly grinning girl before her. 

"Faith?" She said. 

"That's me, for a minute I thought you forgot me B" Faith answered jokingly, still with that sheepish smile. "This isn't how I wanted to do this, stupid vamps and their damn bad timing!" She said mumbling more to herself than to Buffy. 

"So it was you watching me, what are you doing back? When did you get out of prison?" Buffy said with a harshness that surprised even herself. "And what's with the sword?" 

"I'm back because?" Faith started angry at the hostility, but stopped herself and began more calmly. She knew she deserved it. "I'm back because, Cordelia got a vision, something big is gonna go down and I'm reinforcement while Angel deals with LA trouble. Second question, I got out of jail thanks to some tampering by Fang's connections, something about not being able to redeem myself inside a cell." Faith said taking a deep breath. "The sword is because, um...I got in a big throw down in jail and injured my staking arm, and the whole thrusting motion isn't steady in my right. The sword is a smoother, softer movement and way more practical for demons." She said smiling. 

"Ah...well I don't need or want your help so go back to LA." Buffy replied coldly. 

How can she still be that pissed, Faith thought to herself, "Listen B, you don't have to like me or work with me even. I didn't wanna tell you, but in the vision two young girls die, you're there. There is one with straight brown hair, skinny, kinda cute, looks like fifteen maybe less?" 

"Dawn?" Buffy asked with shock, the hostility dissipating instantly. 

"Who's Dawn?" Faith asked rubbing her hands together, noticing Buffy's change of mood. 

"Long story, so who is the other one?" Buffy asked. 

"I don't know. But that one was a brunette, pale complexion, dressed in black." 

Buffy interrupted her again "You realize you're describing yourself!" 

Faith looked at her strangely "No, I'm not, let me finish. She had light eyes, green eyes and was like fifteen? Cordy said she looked a little like you, her face I mean." 

Buffy noticed Faith shivering. For once, she set aside all her feelings about Faith. There was so much in the balance; Dawn was in the balance. She let herself admit that she could use the help and so could her friends. "C'mon, you're gonna stay at my house for tonight. Mom is...out, probably." Buffy said without emotion. 

"No, B, its fine...I" 

"NO! Just 'cause I am not forcing you to leave, doesn't mean I trust you. Let's go!" Buffy said forcefully. 

"Wait, B, I can't. Angel paid to get the mansion all decked out and ready. It's stocked with food. It's his money B...I would go with you" Faith said, begrudgingly acknowledging that Buffy was justified in her anger considering her little stint last time she was in town. Why couldn't change be easy? The reparation of their friendship, if possible, could wait until they were safe. 

"Oh...I'm staying with you, Let's get my stuff." 

Faith nodded, knowing she was in no position to argue. They soon were at the mansion and settled. 

*****

Across town, in the aforementioned cemetery, a small light flickered. This light grew in proportion and began spinning creating a vortex. From the center of the vortex a hand emerged and soon the body of a young teenage girl was forcibly discharged. The vortex closed as the body raised itself up. The girl was clad completely in black, with a large hunting knife hanging in a leather casing by her belt and a stake tucked into the other side. She looked around a smirk on her full lips, her green eyes scanned the cemetery. She placed a lock of wavy brown hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes concentrating intensely. She smiled again and headed in the direction of the mansion. 

*****

Faith knelt in front of the fireplace, loading logs and starting a fire. Buffy watched from across the room, gingerly inspecting the light slash on her stomach. Vampires were not allowed to carry knives, not fair at all she decided. Faith stood and grabbed her sword from its sheath, testing the blade lightly across her finger. She smiled to herself. Sharp as hell. 

"You can go to bed if you want, don't let me keep you up. Help yourself to anything in the fridge." Faith said stripping off her leather jacket. It was at this point that Buffy noticed her bandaged wrist. Faith picked up her sword and began a routine. It was obviously ancient, most likely Asian. She probably learned it from Angel, the blonde concluded. One has the chance to learn quite a bit when one has been around for two hundred and something years after all. Buffy was amazed by the grace that Faith possessed and she just watched for a bit, until a knock at the door jarred her. 

"I'll get it!" Buffy said. Faith gently replaced the sword and straightened her hair. Buffy opened the door to reveal the dark girl Faith had described. 

"Hey Buffy." The girl said giving a very Faith-like smirk. 

"Um...hi?" Buffy said exchanging confused glances with Faith, who just shrugged. 

The girl looked passed Buffy meeting Faith's eyes. 

She smirked and waved "Hi, mom!"


	2. The Origin of Alex

**PART 1: The Origin of Alex**

Silence filled the room. The girl stood leaning on the doorframe her smirk still in place, just watching. Buffy and Faith stared at each other, neither knowing what to say until finally Faith regained her wits and spoke up. 

"Mom? Sorry, I think you got the wrong girl!" She said cautiously noting that the girl had not yet entered the house. Was she a vampire? 

"You're Faith right, Faith the vampire slayer?" The girl asked almost teasingly. 

"Yeah, I can't have a daughter that's like three years younger, what the fuck are you trying to pull?" Faith said even more confused, still considering the girl a potential threat. 

"Maybe not yet you don't. Or not here you don't. Not sure which one yet. You could have them in both places I guess!" Then trailed off talking loudly enough for Buffy and Faith to hear. 

"What the hell do mean not here? What the hell are you talking about?" Faith asked in frustrated confusion. 

Buffy asked calmly "Who are you?" 

"I'm Faith's daughter from I guess not really the future, guess you call it a quasi-future." She answered smiling and stepping into the house. "God mom, how old are you? You're so young...and you too Buffy." She asked walking up to Faith. 

"I'm nineteen, shit." Faith answered still wary, but more at ease now she knew the girl wasn't a vampire. "...Quasi-future?" She asked. 

"How do you know me?" Buffy said leering untrustingly at the girl. She had forgotten the girl addressed her by name at the door. If she were Faith's daughter, why would she know Buffy? 

"Um...hold on" Buffy and Faith watched cautiously as the girl drew a small notepad from her back pocket and began flipping through it. After a few seconds she said "Sorry, Buffy...I can't answer the question yet, it could..." The girl flipped through a couple pages and then began to read from one. "Distort the fragile fabrics of space and time and ultimately affect the ruling course of natural events." She smiled and closed the notepad. "In other words, sorry but you guys, or girls rather, have to figure it out by yourselves. Then I can tell you, I know stupid rules." 

"You can't tell me?" Buffy said clearly not amused. 

"Nope, 'fraid not," she said smirking. "My name is Alexis but you can call me Alex. Mom...you asked me about the quasi-future?" 

"Don't call me that. How the hell do I know you're not a demon?" Faith said unwilling to believe this. "And how come you look like Buffy, if I'm your mother?" Faith asked. 

"Yeah!" Buffy said. Faith certainly had a point there. 

Alex looked between the two disgruntled Slayers. She could see both their brains were busily working away. Her grin widened, until it threatened to burst off face. Her eyes danced with silent laughter as Buffy's and then Faith's eyebrows rose and their confusion turned to realization. She could tell they were afraid to look at each other. Alex shook her head and answered in the most innocent tone she could muster "Gee I better go, it's getting late. Just thought I'd let you know I was in town." 

Faith shook her head, sighing as she fell into the big easy chair in the corner of the room. "What the hell just happened?" Faith asked. 

"I'm not sure...I don't know....I need to?...And my friends don't know you're her and that's really bad...so I should tell them? and what if Dawn came home...what if mom came home...damn it, I'm..." Buffy sat down on a bar stool in the kitchen. "I need to sit down...that was certainly unexpected." Buffy called out to Faith, who was across the room. They both sat in silence, until Faith addressed the blonde. 

"Well I guess now is a good enough time as any, so hell here we go. Jesus, B I know you don't want to hear it, but I am sorry for everything I did, for not allowing you or Angel to help me when I was still salvageable, and for everything else." She paused, before continuing. "But, one thing I won't say is that it was all my fault, because it wasn't. We both made mistakes, B...we both did." 

Buffy hauled herself up off the barstool and walked over to Faith. All the emotions she had been hiding since Faith first said Dawn was in trouble were resurfacing. It was time; they were finally going to have it out like they should have on the rooftop at Angel's. Buffy was more than ready for this. "You think you can just apologize and everything will be good again. That we'll be 'five by five'? Well, it doesn't work that way, you have no right to expect it to, Faith. You killed a man, you tired to kill?" 

"Do you think I don't know that. JESUS, Buffy I asked you on the rooftop at Angel's...just tell me what to do to make it better. You can forgive Angel for killing one of your friends and torturing Giles, what I did wasn't any worse!" 

"YOU TRIED TO KILL THE ENTIRE TOWN!" 

"SO DID ANGEL!" 

"ANGEL LOST HIS SOUL!" Buffy yelled because inside she knew that part of what Faith was saying was true, and damn that pissed her off. "Everything you did you chose to do Faith, every time you hurt me you did it, not because a demon was in control of your body, but because you chose to. And for what reason? We never treated you badly. I tried to be your friend. The reason is because what? You wanted to." Buffy finished punctuating every word with her back turned to Faith. 

Faith was pissed off beyond belief; she could feel the anger rising up through her. She has always had quite a temper. It was familiar as she whipped Buffy around. Her clenched fists shook as she began to raise her voice. "You never treated me badly? You kept me on the outside and tried to make me think that I was one of you. Really B, how the hell many times did you call meetings and not bother to even tell me. You involved me only when it was necessary. You treated me like second best always. I am not your mother-fucking sidekick. You let me stay in a rotting motel room, never even thinking about what the hell I had to do to pay for it?" Faith stopped herself and agitatedly ran shaking fingers through her hair. Her voiced softened and underlying vulnerability peeked through. "What the hell was I supposed to do B, Jesus...I had someone offering me a way out and you offering nothing but 'Faith you killed a man, you need to deal with it'...I..." 

"THAT'S NOT TRUE. I TRIED TO HELP YOU! I GAVE YOU EVERY CHANCE." Buffy had her own rage. So what if Faith had a point? Buffy was the good one. Faith was psycho-slayer. 

"YOU GAVE ME EVERY CHANCE TO BE YOU!" Faith yelled, some of the edge falling out of her voice. "Look B, I didn't come here for this, I'm fucking trying here. God, just tell me what to do to make it better...please" Faith said softer, pleadingly. 

"Nothing, Faith you fucked it all up too many times alright? You cannot fix this." Buffy said coldly. "Now you can stay in Sunnydale or go back LA. I can't make the decision, but I won't stop you from helping." 

Faith felt tears stinging her eyes. "That's it then? fine. I'm gonna take a walk." She sure as hell wasn't gonna give Buffy the satisfaction of seeing her cry. 

Buffy watched feeling her chest ache as a single tear slid down Faith's cheek. She realized she had just screwed up, that she definitely should not have said that. "Faith wait...I didn't mean." She said grabbing the younger slayer's hand. 

"Yes, you did..." Faith growled throwing her hand off so hard that the blonde slayer fell to the ground. "Don't touch me...just don't" Faith said slamming the door behind her. 

*****

Alex sat watching the raging verbal battle, between Buffy and Faith from an 'oh so convenient' window outside the mansion. "Damn what the hell happened to those two?" She could see Faith was at the cracking point, she'd seen her like this before, it meant she was on the verge of tears. 

"God, Buffy just tell me what to do to make it better...please." 

"NOTHING, Faith you fucked it all up too many times." Alex knew that was it and wasn't surprised to see Faith exit the mansion minutes later. 

"Damn Buffy can be a bitch sometimes." Alex thought. She so wanted to slap the other slayer upside the head for hurting her mother. She ran to catch up with Faith. Her real mother had said she could tell her everything. 

"Faith, wait up!" A voice came from behind her. Alex's voice she realized, she had completely forgotten about the girl. 

"GO away, I don't want to talk about whatever it is right now!" Faith said walking a little faster, her voice was unsteady as result of the tears. 

"I need to talk to you!" Alex insisted picking up her pace also. 

"Not now, little girl" Faith said walking even faster. 

"Yes, now." Was the last thing Faith heard before she found herself on her back on the grass beside the road. Alex was sitting on her stomach and pinning her down. Faith smiled a little at the familiar smirk on the girl's face through her still teary eyes. "Will you listen now?" She said trying to look menacing. 

"Whatever" Faith said half glad for the distraction as she lifted the girl off her stomach. "What is so important?" 

"Follow me" Alex said as she helped Faith up from the ground. 

"Why?...Where are we going?" 

"Somewhere quiet where there isn't the potential for late night vamp attacks" Alex replied smiling. "Besides you might wanna be sitting, some of it is kinda heavy." 

"Ah" was her response. The twosome continued silently down the deserted Sunnydale streets, toward a nightclub which Faith was entirely too familiar with. Bad memories. "How do you know where the Bronze is?" 

"I live in Sunnydale just not now or not here I'm..." 

"Yeah I know, not sure which." Faith responded, she was obviously uncomfortable. They entered and retired to a table after getting sodas, sitting in a discrete corner of the dark club. As they settled back, Faith got tired of waiting for the girl to begin. "So what is this about?" 

"Well, depends on what you mean by 'this'." 

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Faith prompted irritably. 

"Well, first off I need to ask you some questions that..." 

"Why?" Faith interrupted. 

"Cause I need to know how much damage there is in yours and Buffy's friendship. You know take stock of the work that needs to be done..." she responded in kind. 

"Wait, wait, wait...you're here to patch things up between me and B?" 

"Yeah, in a sense, but mostly to help with the upcoming apocalypse." She said nonchalantly. 

"What apocalypse? How do you know about it? Where do you come from?" 

"Okay, try to follow 'cause this is complex..." Alex said once again taking out the notebook. "I was conceived by means of a dimensional rift. There are alternate realities on all planes, or as I called them quasi-futures. These alternate realities occur on different time spectrums so the same people from one reality can differ in age, the actual speed of time can be slower or faster. Each reality is slightly altered...for instance in comparing our realities I would be a difference. You follow?" Faith half nodded as Alex flipped through a couple more pages before continuing. "I know what happened in order for you to be called. So let me put it like this. The potential for a dimensional rift occurs when there are deviances from 'the natural order'. Apparently there was one main deviance in your world, and several smaller ones. This deviance was killing of Alan Finch. He was apparently there in some freak occurrence, these things rarely..." 

"So the event that turned my life freakin' upside down wasn't supposed happen at all?" 

"Well, no. Um...hold on" she flipped through a couple more pages and then began reading "There was a drastic change on a higher level, maybe with the Powers that Be. I was saying these events rarely occur but when they do it is to steer the fate of an individual." 

"One more time, my life is screwed up beyond repair because someone up there" Faith pointed to the ceiling "thought I needed a little direction. I could of done without the 'help'." 

"No...but if your life was beyond repair I wouldn't be here, and you from what I know about your life before, you were heading for a fall" Alex stated flatly as Faith sat back taking it in. "So how did Alan die?" 

Faith stared at the girl "You don't know??" 

"I don't know anything about how he died or what happened after that, so you need to tell me." 

Faith considered it for a moment. "Long sad story short. I killed Finch. It was an accident. B and me couldn't deal with it, and I kinda hooked up with this evil guy out to kill the town. Tried to kill Angel and Buffy stabbed me. Went into a coma for eight months, woke up and stole B's body for a while. I ran away to Angel who helped me and I went to jail, he visited. Got outta jail and came here." Faith said without emotion. 

Alex folded her hands on the table and rested her chin on them, before turning her head to look at Faith. "Quite a past you two have. This is gonna take more work than I thought. Well, since you answered my questions, are there any you have for me?" 

"Yeah, one...am I like your real mother?" 

"Yes, even though I was conceived through supernatural means you still got all the perks of a real pregnancy, morning sickness and all, Buffy took pictures...they're hilarious." The girl answered smirking and shaking her head. 

"Um...yeah about me and B in your universe?" Faith began uneasily. 

"What do you want to know?" Alex said with a teasing tone in her voice. 

"What are we?" 

"You're together. Bosom companions, very very literally." She said with obvious disdain. Faith looked shocked and that was rare occurrence. 

"Is she?...um...your father?" Faith asked not sure how to phrase her question or if she even really wanted to hear the answer. 

"Not exactly or not in the traditional sense, she is the donor for the other half of my genes...And I guess there was a consummation between the two of you...eww" Alex was obviously uncomfortable. 

"Fuck," was Faith's only spoken response. She rested her head against the back of the chair she was sitting in. "So um...how exactly did it work, with us...how did you...how did I get pregnant?" Faith asked seriously. 

"Well...hold on, mom explained it..." Alex said flipping towards the front of the notebook. "When two people are fated to be together, they're soul mates, it is actually a rare occurrence that they find each other. You and Buffy are soul mates, regardless of dimension of age or consequently of sex. It has nothing to do with your physical attributes. Although, if it really had nothing to do with the physical attributes, then technically your soul mate could be a dog or an emu or something even stranger, but anyway..." 

"Emu? What the fuck is an emu?" 

"I think they're kind of like small ostriches, but that's not important. So, you and Buffy are soul mates. When two soul mates..." 

"Angel is B's soul mate here, sorry to tell you." Faith said with ill-disguised bitterness. 

"That is completely impossible, soul mates are soul mates in every dimension. Who is Angel?" 

"A wicked old vampire with a soul, nice enough." She said sadly, looking a little lost. 

"Well he can't be Buffy's soul mate. When two soul mates meet in two dimensions at the same time, which there is like a one in a million chance of, a dimensional rift is offered up. It lies dormant until there is a large concentration of opposing energies, in this case I guess it was you and Buffy's fighting and my mother's and Buffy's sappiness and inability to keep their hands off each other." Alex was clearly in an unpleasant mental place. She took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "Then the rift opens and the seed of a child is planted in the best candidate in the safest environment, during a..." Alex struggled for a word. "Sexual experience. This child will be a combination of the soul mates, and is born and raised with the tolerance for dimensional travel and with the ability of mind scanning." 

"Mind scanning?" Faith asked. 

"Oh this is fun!" Alex was clearly excited. "I can read you or Buffy's mind, regardless of where you are, unless you're in another dimension. Trans-dimensional mind scanning doesn't work. It's because I have a little bit of each of your souls in me." 

"Really? Then how come you didn't just read my mind to find out about Alan?" Faith asked a little angry. 

"I could have, but I just wanted to see you say it. Besides you weren't even thinking about it. I'll only read your mind if I want to, it's a choice." 

Faith took a sip of the soda she had yet to touch. "Yeah? So what am I thinking?" 

Alex closed her eyes. "A lot of things. Whether or not I'll be able to read your mind...If you should patrol...If you should go back to the mansion...If you were a good mother? what you look like when you're middle-aged, whether or not I have a place to stay, that's nice of you...that you didn't understand practically anything I said, which is okay cause I don't really understand it either..." Alex stopped for a moment "and Buffy. You love her." 

Faith just stared at the girl. She felt very uncomfortable. 

"And to answer the question on your mind right now, Buffy's thinking that she shouldn't have said what she said before, and she is going to her house. She's also going to call her mom, and Willow?" 

"I wanna leave" Faith was drained. 

"I know." 

"You can stay at the mansion if you want." 

"I know." 

"Stop it." 

"Sorry" Alex said smiling sheepishly as she got up pushing in her chair in. "I don't think we should patrol considering you don't have a weapon." 

Faith nodded, she was just tired. 

*****

Buffy paced around the mansion; trying to find some way to distract herself from the guilt she was feeling. She should call home and maybe Willow, she left with Faith so abruptly. Buffy picked up the phone and dialed her number. She calmly explained the situation to her mother asking her to call Giles, and then called Willow and explained the situation to her also. It took some convincing but both reluctantly agreed that Buffy was doing the right thing. However both threw numerous cautions at her. She should find Spike and ask him if he knew about up and coming apocalypses, something that would explain Cordy's vision. Buffy realized she hadn't grabbed a coat when she stopped by her house earlier. She looked questioningly at the leather jacket thrown on the chair in the corner. Just as she was about to reach for it, the phone rung. 

"Hello?" She answered slowly. 

~Buffy?~ 

"Cordelia?" She asked surprised. 

~Hi...Is Faith there?~ 

"No...she...um...she stepped out." Buffy could not keep the guilt out of her voice. Being perceptive as she is, Cordelia noticed. 

~Did something happen?~ 

"No...why would you...no." 

~Okay, did she tell you about the vision?~ 

"Yeah." 

~Do you know who they are?~ Cordy agitatedly prompted. 

"Yeah, one of them is Dawn...the other is more complicated." 

~Dawn?~ 

"My sister." 

~Oh the key! Yeah, Willow told me about that.~ 

"Yeah." It made Buffy uncomfortable to hear Dawn referred to as the key. 

Sensing this conversation was going no where Cordy ended it 

~Could you have Faith call me?~ 

"Yeah, sure, Bye?" Buffy hung up the phone. Looking warily at the Faith's jacket, she grabbed it for god knows what reason and slung it over her shoulders, making her way towards Revello Drive. She should grab a few more things, while she was out looking for Spike. Buffy noticed the jacket smelled like Faith, that strange but pleasant combination of leather, smoke, and something almost sweet. It kinda tickled her nose. 

Buffy made her way toward the front door. As Buffy's outstretched hand grasped the doorknob she heard a faint rustling near the side of the house. Quietly she made her way to around the corner. What she saw stunned her beyond belief. There was Spike standing on her lawn staring up at her window. 

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, clearly startling him. 

"Hello, luv, I came to show you something." He said regaining his wits. 

"Why were staring into my window?" 

"Don't give yourself too much credit, I was just about to go up and get you. Why don't you follow me?" 

Buffy shook off the experience. Too many weird things had happened tonight for her to really care. She watched Spike's retreating form, before running to catch up with him. 

"It appears, luv, that one of your old mates has decided to return to Sunny-hell..." He said lighting a cigarette. 

Buffy noticed the path they were taking looked familiar. "Spike, did you hear anything about an apocalypse?" 

"No, not really, there are some new demons on the block, tiny little things not too much smaller than you, but their bloody push-overs." He said, giving her a strange off-putting smile. 

Buffy just nodded narrowing her eyes at him. Noticing the mansion in the distance, she rolled her eyes, stopping mid-stride. "I know Faith is back, Spike I'm staying at the mansion with her." 

Spike turned around giving Buffy a quizzical glance. "Oh, well then I best be off, pet. Places to be." 

The blonde slayer walked toward the mansion and saw something flicker near the window. She inspected the area surrounding that side of the mansion, but found nothing. She reasoned it must have been a light from somewhere reflected by the glass. She entered the mansion tossing Faith's jacket back into the chair she had taken it out of. 

Buffy had gone from tired to exhausted, Spike had told her nothing and she hadn't gotten the things she wanted from her house. Not to mention the fact that she had crushed Faith earlier today, and was feeling pretty guilty. Where was Faith anyway? Why wasn't she home yet? She slumped down in the chair, curling into Faith's oversized jacket and slipping quickly into a deep, but disturbed sleep. 

Outside the house, a small lithely muscled figure, with completely black glossy skin, almost silently broke a window of the mansion and slipped inside, unnoticed by the occupant who was still dozing. It crept over in almost a dance like movement. Trailing the long nail of its index finger down the sleeping girl's cheek. He gently puncturing the tip of his index finger on the other hand, as he made a small incision on the side of the girl's face. The demon dripped its blood into her wound, before quietly slipping back through the broken window.


	3. Egyptian Rat Screw

**PART 2**

As Faith and Alex approached the mansion, Faith thought she saw something flicker near the window of the house, but ignored it. She slowly opened the door and stepped into the mansion with Alex following. 

"You can take the room to the right" Faith pointed toward the room. 

"K, night mom..." she answered, receiving a glare from Faith. "Faith." 

Faith watched as Alexis exited the main room, and headed for the right-side bedroom. It had been a weird and deeply draining night. After Alex had disappeared Faith made her way toward the fireplace. She saw Buffy's blond hair peeking over the arm of the leather chair that sat by the couch. Faith silently made her way over to Buffy and was surprised to see that the girl was sleeping nestled in her jacket. Faith went to her bedroom and retrieved an extra blanket, laying it over Buffy. Her thoughts wandered to what Alex had said earlier. Was she in love with Buffy? Hell, of course she was, she had been for so long. As she watched the sleeping slayer, she felt tears roll down her cheek. Disgusted with herself she wiped them away and left, going toward her bedroom. 

However, on her way she noticed the broken window. Stepping closer to the frame she noticed that it looked almost as if the glass had been cut out. The break was so smooth. It was too small for Faith herself to fit through, but big enough for a child to crawl in. 

"What the fuck?" Faith asked herself out loud. 

"What's going on?" Alex walked over to where Faith was hunched over the window frame. She had gotten up for a glass of water. 

"Look at this" Faith pointed to the hole. 

"Weird" Alex commented running her finger along the smooth surface of the break. Off in the distance the younger girl noticed something flash, as if the light of the moon struck it just right. She squinted. "Did you see that?" 

"What?" 

"Nothing." It was probably a broken bottle or something, Alex reasoned. The two brunettes taped a piece of cardboard that they ripped off a box across the window and went to sleep. 

*****

Buffy awoke the next morning slightly disoriented. She stretched and a smile spread across her face as the unmistakable scent of coffee filled the air. She looked around. Where was she? Her smile faded as she remembered what happened last night. Maybe it was a dream. How likely was it that her and Faith had a daughter from another dimension? She laughed a little at the thought, after all it was anatomically impossible. 

"Hi Buffy, thought you could use some coffee!" Alex said cheerfully placing the cup on the table next to Buffy's leather chair. The young girl then took her seat on the couch across from the slayer. 

"Damn." 

"What?" 

"You're real." Buffy answered, sitting up and reaching for the mug. 

"Good morning to you too!" Alex snorted slightly offended, but shook it off. Buffy noticed that she was still wrapped in Faith's jacket, but now there was a cover over it. She folded both up tossing them next to Alex on the couch. It was then that she noticed the window. 

"What happened to the window?" Buffy questioned. 

"We don't know. It was like that when we came home." Alex looked at Buffy. "You didn't see anything? Hear anything?" 

"Nope, nothing, that's wiggy," Buffy commented, Alex nodded. "So what's the deal?" 

"Hmm?" 

"You adopted?" 

"You mean in my dimension?" Alex clarified, wearing a cross between a smile and a smirk. 

"Yeah" Buffy was waking up a little. She should have slept on the couch. Her back was killing her and her cheek, for some reason, was throbbing. 

"No, not adopted." She took a good look at Alex for the first time. The girl from the neck down was practically a carbon copy of Faith, but her face, her eyes especially were pure Buffy. They were that sea green with specks of gold and her hair was lighter than Faith's. Her features were a little less dramatic than the brunette's, but she was a beautiful girl. 

"Not sure I wanna know, but how were do you...where did you come from?" Buffy knew where this was heading, but she could not figure out how it was possible. 

"I came from Faith and from you." Buffy looked warily at the girl. 

"How?" Alex sighed, a little irritated that she would have to explain the situation all over again. 

"I'm assuming you won't just ask Faith, so I won't have to explain this all over again?" The look on Buffy's face said it all. "Fine, it's like this. You and Faith are madly, passionately in love in my dimension. You two redefine the terms sappy and romantic. Really, it is sickening to be with you two for long periods of time." 

"You're serious?" 

"Unfortunately!" Buffy sighed uncomfortably, Alex picked up on it. "Hey, at least you don't have to see it on a daily basis." 

"I still don't understand..." 

"Give me chance." Alex chided good-naturedly. "So, you and Faith are soul mates." 

"In your dimension." Buffy tried to put in. 

"In every dimension." Alex answered seriously. Buffy snorted. 

"There is no way that Faith is my soul mate!" Alex felt her anger rise. She has Faith's temper. Most of the time her and Buffy got along well, but they definitely had their moments. 

"Soul mates are soul mates in every dimension." 

"Not in this one" Buffy said with a certain forcefulness. 

"Wrong again. Look do you wanna hear where I came from, or do you wanna argue about the laws of the mystical universe?" 

"You can't just come here and tell me..." 

"You asked!" The two girls folded their arms across their chests and wore identical pouts. 

"Fine." Both said in unison. It was at this moment that Faith walked groggily into the kitchen. Taking in the identical facial expressions, Faith tried not to smile. 

Raising her eyebrow the dark slayer asked, "What happened here?" 

Faith was still unsure about talking to the older slayer after last night's episode, but it was apparent that the wrath of Buffy was not being focused on her this morning. 

"She's being difficult!" They answered at the same time, pointing fingers at each other. 

"No, you are!" They both retorted, looking positively offended. Faith shook her head. It was too early for this. Coffee, she needed coffee, it was after all the best part of waking up. 

*****

Alex had got up about twenty minutes ago and the blonde had been resting on the couch ever since. Realizing that this was a good time to talk with Faith, Buffy walked into the kitchen where the younger girl was standing. She was making what appeared to be an omelet. 

"Hey." She said, hesitantly. 

"Hey" Faith answered breaking another egg and tossing the shell into the sink. 

"I was wondering where the shower was..." Buffy began lamely. She wanted to apologize, but couldn't bring herself to. 

"Alex might still be in there right now, but second door on the right, towels are in the closet." She had not looked at Buffy since the girl approached her. 

"Um...okay...Faith?" Buffy rubbed the back of her neck. She was nervous. 

"What?" Faith's indifference was not reassuring. 

"Um...I...nothing" Buffy answered walking out of the kitchen. She saw Alex exit the bathroom as she turned into the hall. 

She turned on the water and stripped down, testing it before climbing in. As the hot water hit her face, a burning sensation shot through the right side of her face beginning at her cheek. She jumped back a little, and touched her hand to her face. It felt normal and she peered out of the sliding door. It looked normal, a little red, but normal. She shrugged off the experience. 

Instead, she just concentrated on the nice spray from the showerhead. It was almost as soothing as a massage and it was helping to relieve the tension that sleeping in that chair had caused. The blonde silently reveled in the heat. Her body became completely relaxed and it was then that she heard a voice as plain as day. 

'Where the hell are those mushrooms??' Buffy's eyes shot open. 

"Hello??" She called out. No one was there. Mushrooms?? She quickly dried herself off and headed to the room she had placed her things in. She dressed herself, still a little bewildered. 

*****

Alex was sitting on the couch watching the slayers ignore each other. The blonde had spent all morning on the phone with apparently everyone she knew. From what she understood, Buffy was organizing a meeting at the mansion this afternoon about Faith's return and the upcoming apocalypse. Buffy was apparently morally opposed to the idea of cutting Faith any slack. It seemed the blonde slayer was opting to leave Alex's appearance out of her conversions. Alexis had been scanning Faith when the girl found about the meeting. Well, since Faith had no one in her corner, Alex decided that she'd help the brunette slayer out. 

The more she'd been thinking about Buffy's irrational reserve of anger, the more she realized how badly Faith must have hurt her. Her mother's Buffy was really very sensitive, even though she tried desperately to hide that fact. She looked at the two slayers from where she was sitting on the couch. 

They were both so unhappy. The doorbell rang. "I'll get it" Alex yelled, bored to death. She opened the door to reveal a redheaded girl she thought looked a little like her Godmother, a blond girl she vaguely recognized as Tara, and a younger brunette she couldn't place. 

"Tara, Willow?" She asked. The two looked at each other questioningly before Willow spoke up. 

"Um...have we met?" Willow looked at the girl. Something about her was familiar, but she couldn't figure out what it was. 

"Nope, not here." The answer further confused the witches and earned Alexis a look from the brunette. There was an awkward silence before Buffy yelled for them to come in from the kitchen. Alexis was thrilled by the arrival of the witches and the girl because now she wouldn't have to watch Buffy and Faith ignore each other. 

Willow and Tara walked toward Buffy's voice throwing glances back in Alex's direction; the girl only smiled in response. 

"So, whose your friend?" Dawn asked Buffy. The blond dried her hands on a nearby towel and looked to where Dawn was pointing. 

"Alex, she's...well...she's from another dimension." Willow and Tara immediately seemed to take a deeper interest in the girl. Reading the older slayer's mind Alex found that Buffy wanted to leave the daughter part out. Not a chance. 

"I'm Buffy's daughter!" Alex extended her hand towards the witches. The two girls were too shocked to even react. However, the young brunette that had come in with them took the offered hand. Laughing slightly. 

"I guess that would make me your Aunt! I'm Dawn..." Both Alex's and Faith's, who had been quietly sitting by the fireplace, eyes grew wide at this radical new development. 

"Buffy's sister?" Alex asked just to clarify, Dawn nodded. 

"Weird" Faith and Alex mumbled together. 

Willow, Tara, and Dawn turned their attention to the girl on the fireplace. The blonde Wiccan and the key regarded her with wary expressions, while Willow leered at the Slayer with abject hatred. After about five minutes of their staring, Faith met their eyes before getting up and walking out of the room. Alex watched the scene with a look of worry on her face. 

"Faith, wait!" Buffy called after her, but the other slayer ignored her. She heard Willow mumble an insult at the brunette's retreating form. She thought the better of going after Faith, and started her meeting after the rest of them arrived. She realized about a half hour into the conference that Faith had no intentions of making an appearance. 

*****

Faith picked up the phone next to her bed and dialed the number for Angel Investigations. She drummed her fingers lightly on her thigh as she waited for someone to pick up. 

~Hello? Angel Investigations.~ 

"I can't fucking do this!" 

~Faith?~ 

"I'm coming back Cordelia. Tell Angel for me." 

~What? No...you can't.~ 

"I told you...I'm not ready." 

~Faith, my vision.~ 

"So send Angel." 

~It doesn't work like that, Faith you were in my vision and that means you have to be there.~ 

Faith growled. Clearly frustrated. "Look, Cordy no one wants me here, especially me." 

~Faith, what happened?~ Cordelia was concerned for Faith's well being. They had formed something of a friendship after Faith's release. 

"What I knew would happen. Everyone would rather fucking kill themselves than forgive me, I mean for fuck sake, Buffy insisted on staying with me so she could remind me what a fuck-up I am every ten minutes and she invited her stupid friends over so they could fucking glare at me like I'm the fucking devil personified. Fuck it C I'm not ready to deal with this." 

~Faith, geez...language!...I wish you didn't have to be there, but...~ 

"Yeah, you're not the only one, fucking PTBs!" The brunette chose to ignore Cordy's comment about her cursing. 

~I'm sorry that...~ 

"Not your fault. Maybe I can just hide out in my room the whole fucking time." She answered excepting her fate. 

~That's looking on the bright side.~ 

"You know me. Ms. Flowers and Sunshine" Faith half smiled. 

~Ha, Did Buffy tell you I called? ~ 

"No, but we haven't been much for talking" Faith was becoming less angry, and more depressed as the seconds ticked by. 

~Well, I was calling to ask if you knew who the two girls in the vision were. Buffy explained about Dawn?~ 

"Alex is the other girl." 

~Do you know how she is connected to any of this?~ 

"Fuck, you're so not gonna believe this, but she is mine and B's daughter from another dimension. As if my return to the Dale wasn't complicated enough, but she seems nice." 

~Daughter? Major-freakiness factor.~ 

"Tell me about it" Faith laughed lightly. "Look Cordy, it was nice to talk to someone who doesn't wanna kill me." 

~Anytime...Faith Angel's back. He's going to say Hi. I'll call you later. K?~ Cordelia handed the phone to Angel as Faith Okayed her offer. 

"Hey, Angel." 

~Hey, how are you holding up?~ 

"Been better." 

~Faith?~ 

"Yeah Fang?" 

~If they won't see you that you've changed, then that's their choice because we all know you have. Try not to let it get you. Remember to relax yourself. Well, all right. Good luck. I understand how difficult this is for you. Going back at all should prove you're not the same person anymore.~ 

Angel knew if he could see Faith right now she would be rolling her eyes, but he knew it meant something to her none the less. 

"Uh...thanks." 

~Good Night, Faith.~ 

"Night" Faith gently placed the phone back on the charger. She was glad that she had people, even if they weren't with her now. It was nice. She sat quietly thinking with her hands folded, breathing deeply until there was a knock at the door. 

"Yeah?" 

"Hey" Alex walked in to the room, slowly closing the door behind her. 

"Hey kiddo" Faith saw no reason to be mean to the one person who had no desire to cause her bodily harm. Besides, Alex's presence was a little comforting. 

"That's what mom calls me." Alex smiled at the older girl, taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed. "Why did you just walk out like that?" 

"What the fuck was I supposed to do?" Faith spoke through a sigh, with her eyes closed leaning her head against the headboard. 

"Stay and listen, maybe." 

"Stay and listen and have B and all her friends glare daggers at me? Stay and listen and have them look at me like I suggested mass genocide whenever I fucking open my mouth? No thank you." Faith retorted none too gently. 

"But, I'm sure it wouldn't be like that," Alex answered sincerely. Buffy wouldn't let that happen. She was sure of it. 

"Yeah? Well, I'm sure you haven't been here long enough." The sadness in the brunette's face contrasted with the anger in her words. 

"Look, mo...Faith, Buffy didn't mean to say what she did yesterday and she is sorry, I don't think she would've..." 

"Yeah? Well this isn't your dimension. Things are fucking different here. How the fuck do you know what B feels, what the hell she would or wouldn't do?" Faith half-glared at the girl. 

"I can read your minds" Alex reminded the angry girl. She wasn't offended by Faith's aggression, she could tell that the slayer was more hurt than angry. 

"Oh" Faith mumbled. 

"Faith, if she apologizes, which she better or I'll take her down, slayer or not..." She smiled at Faith, who looked away. "Will you give the two of you another chance?" 

"To do what?" Faith was not one for subtlety. 

"To be friends, or whatever you're meant to be here, you are soul mates and you need each other." 

"Like a hole in the head." Faith replied frustrated, she flopped down on her back. Alex rolled her eyes lying on her stomach next to Faith. She reached her hand out to hold Faith's in a gesture of support. Faith jumped a little as their fingers touched. 

"What are you doing?" Faith questioned staring at the ceiling, surprised by Alex's actions. 

"Sorry, I was trying for comfort." Alex answered withdrawing her hand. This Faith was so much more guarded than her mother. So much more, for lack of a better word, damaged. 

"S'okay." Faith said softly. "I...thanks." 

*****

Buffy sat not really listening to Willow explaining the "Faith" situation to Tara. She just picked up on key words 'Slut', 'psycho', 'evil', 'homicidal'. Tara looked astonished at the harshness of her girlfriend's words. She had watched Alex leave the room about half an hour ago, presumably to go talk to Faith. God, she had never felt so guilty in her life. She new what she said yesterday had crossed a line and she wasn't sure if things could ever be okay between them. If she was honest with herself, she knew that she wanted things to be better between them. She was just so angry at Faith. The small woman sat deep in thought when the voice from her shower returned. 'What a stupid name for a game.' The blonde was becoming worried. 

"Buffy?" Willow was concerned. Her blonde friend was staring off into space, and she looked upset. 

"Huh?" 

"Are you okay?" 

"Yeah. Why?" Buffy noticed everyone in the room was looking at her. 

"You looked a little lost Buff" Xander answered from the floor. He surprisingly had been one of the least hostile about Faith's return. 

"Nope, just tired. I'm fine, finer than fine, the finest." She flashed that 'I'm okay, really' smile and changed the subject, deciding against mentioning her possibly budding case of schizophrenia. "So, Apocalypse?" 

Giles resumed his position as leader of the discussion, glad to see that the Faith-bashing session had died down. "Right, I believe it would be beneficial to speak with Faith herself about this, as she is the one who would probably know the most about this vision of Cordelia's." 

"Can't we just call Cordelia?" Willow probed, trying to avoid involving the brunette. 

"Willow, I understand your feelings, but Faith will not be excluded, she appears to be vital and they do insist she's turned over a new leaf." 

Willow rolled her eyes. "People like her, can't change." 

"Your opinion is duly noted Willow, but irrelevant at this juncture in time, she will work with us." Giles took off his glasses and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. 

"Wow, this is so cool." Dawn unsheathed the sword that had been lying near the armchair since Faith set it there last night. She picked up the slim, engraved item of weaponry and waved it back and forth. 

"Dawn, perhaps you should put that down." Giles suggested, feeling like the exhausted father. 

"Yeah Dawnster, I'm not sure Angel would appreciate the exploration of his probably expensive weapons collection." Xander smiled at the girl. 

"It's not Angel's" Buffy answered distractedly, "It belongs to Faith." Dawn set the sword back in its place. 

"Oh so not only are you staying with a homicidal maniac, you're staying with a sword-wielding homicidal maniac." Willow rolled her eyes, at Buffy's obvious lapse in judgment. Giles sighed. 

"Yes well now that we've re-established the fact that Buffy is indeed staying with Faith, we can reacquaint ourselves with the issues at hand...I think that Faith needs to be involved in this discussion, if it is really that much of a problem for any of you, I suggest you leave the meeting early." 

Buffy watched as Willow and Tara got up and left. Buffy smiled her goodbye at them, telling Willow she would call her later. In truth the blonde was thankful to avoid a potential screaming match. She noticed that Giles and Xander and Dawn were all staring at her. 

"What?" 

"Buffy perhaps you could get Faith to join us?" Prompted Giles. 

"I...me?" She pointed to herself, Dawn rolled her eyes and Giles nodded. "I can try." 

*****

Buffy knocked lightly on the door to Faith's bedroom. She heard a soft 'come in' and slowly opened the door. Faith and Alex were sitting on the bed playing some type of card game. They both looked like they were concentrating extraordinarily hard, it was funny. 

"Hey" Buffy said hesitantly. She watched as they flipped cards from their hand onto a pile in the middle of them until suddenly both of their hands slammed down, Alex's just a millisecond before Faith's. Buffy jumped. Alex smiled triumphantly as she picked up the pile. Faith cursed. 

"Hey" Alex waved. Faith nodded as a greeting without looking in the blonde's direction. 

"What are you guys doing?" 

"Egyptian Rat screw" Alex answered flipping over a card from the top of her pile. Alex slapped again, this time before Faith even noticed. 

"Huh? Egyptian what what?" Buffy didn't think she heard correctly. 

"Hovering, you were so hovering" Faith accused. 

"I was not, you have slow reaction time." 

"Slow reaction time my ass, you're just lucky" Faith answered, as she slammed her hand down. 

"Rat Screw, It's called Egyptian Rat Screw, Damn it!" Alex answered, while Faith picked up the pile in the middle with a definite smirk. 

"Ah, well, um...Faith you're needed in the other room." 

"Why?" Faith asked still not looking up. 

"Giles needs to talk to you about Cordy's vision." 

"Why don't you just call Queen C?" 

"Because you need to be involved in this" Faith just ignored the comment continuing with her game. "Faith, please look at me..." Faith continued with the game until Alex stopped it, which earned her a glare. "Look, Faith about yesterday I..." 

"Forget it, B" Faith stopped her mid-sentence. 

"No, I can't alright, just...Faith, I'm sorry." Faith looked Buffy in the eye and nodded following her out of the room. 

"Well at least it's a start!" Alex mumbled as she collected the cards and hurried after the two slayers. 


	4. Confusion

**PART 3: Confusion**

A man dressed in a gray two-piece suit stood just outside the Hotel. He had spent the day attempting to squeeze information out of the useless officers at the California Women's Correctional Facility, regarding a certain prisoner. It was just after nightfall and this was his last lead; maybe just maybe this was it. He knocked lightly on the door. A young brunette woman answered. 

"Yes, hello I'm with the watcher's council of..." He was surprised as the door slammed in his face. Astonished, he knocked again. 

"What?" She was clearly annoyed. 

"Is there a Ms. Ryan here?" 

"Who? No" The brunette made to slam the door again, but he caught it bewildered. 

"Faith, Ms. Faith Ryan. Do you know her?" He watched as the brunette's eyes narrowed, but she nonetheless released her hold on the door. "It is imperative I speak with her." 

"No, we haven't seen her." 

"I was assured she was residing here." The man insisted. 

"Well, you heard wrong." 

"Please, if you do see her, inform her that watcher's council would like to speak with her." The girl looked as if he'd just threatened her. A man joined her in the doorway. 

"Cordelia, it's okay." The man addressed the woman, who retreated. He leaned on the doorpost. "Can we help you?" 

"Perhaps. Have you been in contact with Faith Ryan? I must speak with her!" 

"You have some nerve coming here after the stunt you pulled last time she was in town." 

The man was dumbfounded. "Perhaps you've mistaken me for someone else, I'm with the watcher's council of Britain." 

"Just stay away from her. She has paid for her mistakes." 

"Clearly you misunderstand my intentions, I only wish to..." 

"Leave her alone." 

"But sir, I must insist that you tell me her whereabouts, I have been searching for her and..." He found himself talking to a closed door. "Damn it all." He muttered to himself. He stood watching the door, until his cell phone rung. 

"Hello...She is no longer here...Yes I'm aware of the time limitations...No, I...I'll have my people run a search, but... really?...yes, I understand...Sunnydale? Are you quite certain?...A day or so...you're positive?...no, I don't doubt that...yes, quite right." He hung up the phone with a relieved smile. The man quickly got into his car; he had quite a drive ahead. 

*****

Faith had told them all she knew, deliberately leaving out the part about the two girls dying. Buffy had informed Giles on his way out. After Giles' departure, Xander offered to drop Dawn off at the Summers' house. He stood up from the couch looking warily in Faith's direction. She met his gaze and rose from her chair. 

"Come on Dawnster, I gotta drop you off at home. It's getting kind of late." He ruffled the girl's hair and she looked up at him adoringly. 

"Xander..." Faith began. The boy turned around. 

"Yeah?" 

"Look, I'm sorry for the shit I pulled before...I never meant to...I was pretty screwed up back then...and...I'm just sorry." Faith looked around, seemingly waiting for a response. After about five minutes Xander answered her. 

"What do you want me to say Faith? That it's okay? That all is forgiven? Because it's not..." The brunette slayer's dejectedness surprised him. Closing her eyes and worrying her bottom lip, Faith nodded. She had expected as much. For reasons he did not entirely understand, Xander felt the need to throw Faith a bone. "But maybe it will? Apology soon to be accepted." She looked at him and he gave her a weak version of the classic Xander grin. Grabbing his keys off the mantle, he waved goodbye to everyone. Dawn hurried out after him. 

"Xander's cute at this age." Alex commented plopping onto the couch. 

"You know him too?" Buffy asked ignoring her comment. 

"Yeah, but he is like forty-something in my world. Not nearly so yummy." 

Buffy shook her head at the girl, taking a seat in the leather armchair by the fireplace. The three young women sat quietly in the living room. 

"Faith?" 

"Huh?" Faith asked from her position on the floor. She had been polishing her sword. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Yeah we covered that." Faith was uncomfortable, but sheathed her blade to demonstrate that Buffy had her full attention. 

"Not for the argument." 

"Revoking your apology already B?" The dark slayer was both angry and hurt. 

"What? No I'm still sorry for...god you don't make this easy!" Faith snorted. "I'm sorry for back then too." She looked into the blonde's eyes to make sure she was serious. 

"So we're both sorry." Faith summarized wearing a mask of indifference. Inside, the brunette was ecstatic. Things were going her way tonight; a rare occurrence that she intended to enjoy fully, albeit silently. 

"Yup." Buffy confirmed. Alex rolled her eyes. 

"So get over yourselves and get it on." Two slayers glared at the girl who was now sipping loudly at her sprite. "Oh please! You know you both want to." Although an awkward silence followed her comment, there was an unspoken agreement between the slayers. Something was most definitely starting. 

*****

Tara watched Willow pacing about in her dorm room. 

"Sweetie, maybe you should sit down." Tara tried, patting the bed. 

Willow ignored the comment continuing her pacing, which earned her a sigh. 

"Maybe she really has changed!" 

"No, people like that don't change." Willow threw back. 

"People like what?" 

"Like Evil." Tara nodded slowly. 

"Willow her aura wasn't the same" In Tara's honest opinion, the anger Willow was showing had to be about more than being kidnapped. 

"She's a manipulator, Tara. She's evil and she's going to turn on Buffy." 

"You can't know that Willow." Tara insisted softly, getting up and grabbing her girlfriend's hands. "What's wrong?" She touched her face gently. 

"My best friend is staying with a psycho!" Willow gave Tara a look that was pure 'duh', but it appeared to be forced. 

"For real Wills...What's going on here?" 

"I...she just waltzes all friendly-like back to Sunnydale and suddenly it's all forgiven, she doesn't deserve that." 

"Nobody forgave her honey" Tara interjected. 

"But they will! Then her and Buffy will be all-buddy buddy 'it's a slayer thing' Willow, you don't mind do you? We'll hang out tomorrow? Yes I mind!" Willow was jealous. Tara couldn't believe that Willow was jealous. "And I'm sounding all jealous type now." She blushed. 

Tara shook her head good-naturedly. "You're Buffy's best friend, you'll always be Buffy's best friend." Willow looked up at her and then down at the ground. 

"I know." She relented. 

"Give Faith a chance...just one." Somewhat reluctantly Willow nodded, sitting down with Tara. Curled around her girlfriend, the blonde soon fell asleep. Willow however, was still uneasy about the situation. In all fairness, Tara had a point. She hadn't even given the girl a chance, not even when the girl first came to Sunnydale. Maybe Faith had changed, then again maybe she plotting some horribly evil scheme of revenge. 

*****

"So, you guys hungry?" Faith began. Her stomach had been growling the entire meeting. 

"Yeah" Alex confirmed. 

"Definitely" Buffy agreed. 

"Pizza sound good?" The three girls nodded. 

"I'll get the phone book!" Buffy offered. 

"B...I was actually going to...ah...make it." 

"You cook?" The blonde questioned, amazed. Embarrassed, Faith nodded. 

"Hell yeah she cooks!" Alex chimed in. "Mom is an amazing cook! Can't say the same for you though Buffy." 

"Hey, I can cook!" Buffy defended. 

"Yeah?" Faith questioned, smirking. "Wanna do dinner B?" 

"I'd like to object...strongly!" Alex interjected. 

"No, go ahead!" Faith wanted to see this. 

"Okay, pizza! I can do that. I eat pizza all the time." Buffy reasoned. 

"Troubles a brewin?" 

"That's enough from you!" Buffy shook a wooden spoon at Alex, who stuck out her tongue. 

The brunette slayer and her future daughter took seats next to each other at the bar to watch the show. They watched as the blonde rummaged through the fridge grabbing every conceivable food that could be considered a pizza topping. 

"K, so tomatoes are in pizza." Her slayer determination was kicking in. She was going to make dinner and it would be damn good to boot. Buffy grabbed a large kitchen knife and took a good whack at the poor vegetable, which all but exploded. 

"Jesus, Buffy! Save the slaying for the vamps." Alex exclaimed wiping the seeds and tomato innards from her face. Faith was stifling a laugh, having narrowly avoided be hit. Buffy turned to face her, glaring. This only caused the other slayer to burst out in loud full-bellied whoops. Pieces of tomato hung in the blonde's hair and seeds speckled her clothing. 

"Not funny, F." The little blonde spat out. 

"Look B, maybe I should take over from here." Faith answered, her laughter dying down a little. 

"Whatever!" Buffy was flicking little pieces of vegetable from her hair. She made her way to the bathroom to clean herself up. 

*****

Buffy leaned over the sink, turning on the water. She let it run over her face. Her pride was definitely wounded after that display. Grabbing her hair, she pulled it under the water washing away the chunks of embarrassment. She grabbed a towel and quietly sat on the edge of the bathtub. 

So much had happened in the past two days. Finally, Buffy allowed all the new information swirling around in her head to register. She silently reflected, chewing on the most startling bit of news. It was not that there was an apocalypse on the way, there was always something threatening human kind. It was not that her and Faith had a daughter from an alternate dimension, although that was unexpected. Alex said that Faith was her soul mate. Faith was 'her' soul mate. She searched for reasons why this was impossible, but found nothing beyond her own anger. 

She had always felt drawn to Faith ever since that first night outside the Bronze...but it was a slayer thing. It had to be a slayer thing, but if it was a 'slayer thing' why hadn't she felt it with Kendra? Faith was a friend, but then why did what they had feel different from what she had with Willow or with Xander? Just because she felt more alive in Faith's mere presence then in the intimate embrace of any of her past lovers, did not mean that Faith was her other half. Uncertainty and fear crept into the mind of little slayer, and a frown dulled her countenance. 

Any thoughts of the brunette slayer were momentarily forgotten when the scent of fresh pizza reached her nose. She stood up taking one last glance in the mirror. It was then she noticed a pale bruise on the upper portion of her cheek. She gently pressed it, surprised to find it painless. "Probably from sleeping in the stupid chair!" she mumbled. Buffy made her way to the kitchen toweling her hair. 

*****

"I told you!" Alex said to Faith while washing her hands and splashing some water on her face. "In my dimension Buffy's not even allowed in the kitchen, she accidentally set the toaster on fire the last time." She dried her face off and tossed the paper towel in trash as she sat down smiling. 

Faith laughed a little. "Yeah?" 

"Oh yeah, God, Buffy tried to put it out with water, a word to the wise, never try to put an electrical fire out with water. Woo boy!" She smirked. "Nice to you smiling finally." Alex commented swiveling back and forth in her chair. Faith arched her eyebrow at the girl and continued chopping vegetables. 

The slayer felt a little better about the Sunnydale situation as a whole. For the first time in quite a while, she found herself thinking maybe the mess that was her life could work out after all. Faith was not one for hoping, but every once in a while she indulged herself. 

"So, you miss it?" 

"What?" 

"Your dimension." 

"A little, but you know destiny works in mysterious ways." Alex waved her hands through the air to emphasize her point. 

"I guess." Faith answered kneading the pizza dough. Alex watched in silence as the girl made her pizza. It was strange to watch. Faith did everything just like her mother: the kneading of the dough, the chopping of the vegetables, the intense concentration, and the satisfied smile that adorned her face when she finished. 

As soon as Faith slipped the pizza in the oven, the phone rang. "You think you could get that?" Faith nodded in the direction of the phone. 

"Sure" Alex smiled warmly, grabbing the phone off its receiver. "Hello?" 

~Hello?~ 

"Hi." 

~Um...is Faith there, Buffy?~ 

"I'm not Buffy, but sure." Alex held her hand over the phone and hollered to Faith in the kitchen. "For you." Faith dried her hands and took the telephone. 

"Hey." 

~Hi, Faith it's Cordelia, who was that?~ 

"Alex. What's up C?" 

~Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, welcome to my life, the council was here looking for you.~ 

"What the hell do they want?" 

~I don't know, they said to 'talk', but it's probably nothing good Ms. Ryan.~ 

Faith's eyes widened considerably. No one had used her given last name since her watcher. "How do you...know?" 

~They asked for Faith Ryan...Angel says just watch yourself okay? We don't think they know where you are.~ 

"Fucking council, you know me...I look out for my own...always, but thanks." 

~Welcome, well...talk to you later.~ Faith hung up the phone a little less than gently. 

"Shit! Can't fucking catch a break can I?" The brunette slumped into the armchair frowning, her good mood destroyed. 

"What happened?" Buffy asked as she walked in from the bathroom towel drying her hair. 

"The watcher's council." 

"The council?" 

"They were at Angel's looking for me." Faith rubbed at her closed eyes. "Probably still got it in for me." 

"Do they know you're here?" Buffy asked draping the towel over the stone inlayed before the fireplace, to dry. She appeared concerned. 

"C doesn't think so." She sighed heavily. "Fuck!" 

"The council is after you? Bad guys here too, I guess." Alex asked stepping out from the kitchen where she had been dutifully watching the pizza. 

"I don't know." Faith stared up at the ceiling. "Maybe." 

"Well, they aren't so much as touching you without a damn good fight!" Alex exclaimed, looking to Buffy for support. "Am I right or am I right?" 

"What?" Buffy appeared to be lost in thought. She glanced over at Faith who looked hurt, although she was trying to hide it and suddenly registered what Alex had said. "Oh...yeah, definitely, the council is borderline evil scum." 

"Yeah!" Alex confirmed shaking her fist lightly (she loved a good fight). She sniffed the air. "Mo...Faith...I think your pizza's ready." 

*****

"Oh come on Buffy, that pizza kicked, just admit it." Alex pushed as they walked through one of Sunnydale's many graveyards. Faith was listening to their animated conversation, but had yet to speak since they decided to patrol. Alex insisted on coming and neither Buffy nor Faith felt compelled to argue with the feisty youngster. Looking to find a vampire whom she could take her anger out on, the brunette stalked the area. Faith could only imagine what a strange trio they made: Alex with her hunting knife near her waist, herself with her sword strapped across her back, and Buffy with a stake hanging loosely in her grip. 

"Fine, Faith is a good cook, better than me, okay?" Buffy irritably answered. The blonde's infamous pout made an appearance. Faith smirked and Alex nodded in agreement. An elbow and a stern look from Faith stopped the young brunette from continuing her teasing. 

"It's quiet tonight." Buffy commented scanning the terrain with her eyes. 

"Too quiet" Alex added in a comically eerie voice. 

"Ha ha." Buffy narrowed her eyes at Alexis, who simply smirked. 

Faith saw a rustling bush off in the distance. "Do you see that?" 

"What?" Alex asked. Faith pointed with her eyes to the offending piece of shrubbery. Buffy catching sight of the disturbance, moved silently toward it. 

Alex squinted at the bush before being violently sideswiped by a vampire that went undetected. The young girl grunted as she fell to the ground. With a snarl she jumped up and launched herself at the creature. It was soon clear that Alex had the situation well under control. The young brunette was obviously enjoying trading blows with the demon. Another vampire ran into the fray taking hold of Faith's attention. 

Faith swept her vampire and took up a fighting stance. He ran at her and she sidestepped, kicking him from behind. The stupefied vamp grabbed the coat of Alex's fighting partner as he stumbled and they fell into a heap on the ground. The first vamp dived for Alex's feet knocking her over for the second time; it appeared Alex had the smarter of the two. He dived at her and she kicked upward sending the vamp flying into the wall of a nearby mausoleum. Cursing, she chased after him producing a stake from her back pocket. The vamp was soon taken care of. 

Faith hauled her vamp up and punching him squarely in the face. She watched, astonished, as he held his nose pitifully whimpering. She pulled back her fist and the scared vamp attempted to make a dash. She grabbed his shirt. 

"NO, no please don't hit me, please, it really hurt." He pleaded, whining, sniffling, and wiping at a stray tear. Faith rolled her eyes and let him down. Before he could run, she beheaded him. 

"That had to be THE most unsatisfying slay in fucking history!" Faith said under her breath as she rolled her shoulders, sighing as they popped. Her tension had not been eased. Alex made her way over to where Faith was putting away her sword. 

"That was great!" Alex commented, bouncing lightly on her toes. She was pumped and rubbed her hands together as an outlet for the energy coursing through her. "Where's Buffy at?" They looked around, seeing no sign of the blonde slayer anywhere. 

"Buffy?" Alex hollered, her brow knit in concern. 

"B? Where the hell are you?" Faith called out surveying the area. 

It was then that something flew out of the bushes in the distance. The dark creature was barely visible as it barreled off behind some tombstone. The brunette slayer hardly noticed the demon. It was not what had captured her attention because protruding slightly from that bush was the motionless hand of certain blonde slayer.


	5. Dreams and Nightmares

**PART 4: Dreams and Nightmares**

The door of the mansion burst open. Running with Buffy held tightly in her arms, was Faith. She laid the blonde gently on the couch as Alex worriedly prepared a wet cloth. Faith knelt by Buffy's side checking her vitals for the fourth time. 

"What the fuck happened?" She was completely confused. Inspecting the slayer for wounds, Faith thought back to the graveyard. She tried unsuccessfully to rouse Buffy by calling her name and shaking her. It was almost as if the woman had fallen sleep because her expression was neither pained nor worried. Her eyes danced beneath her lids as if she were dreaming. Gently kneeling beside Faith, Alex laid the cloth across Buffy's forehead. 

"I don't know." Alex answered sitting on the floor. She attempted to scan the blonde, but the pictures were jumbled and confused. "She's not dreaming." Alex turned her telepathic attention to Faith, whose face had turned a sickly pale. 

~Is okay to take her hand? Would she want me to...of course she wouldn't. Damn it, B! If they fucking hurt you, I swear to god I'll kill them. You can't die...please. Okay? Please...Hell, if I had been paying more attention I would have noticed those stupid vamps...I,~ Faith's thoughts were turning sour. 

"It's not your fault." Alex stated, looking purposefully into the brunette's eyes. 

"What the fuck? How do you...?" 

"It's not your fault Faith, no one noticed the vampires. You were thinking it was your fault, it's not." The seriousness in the young girl's tone left no room for argument. 

Faith looked at the ground studying the patterns of fabric on the rug. She was completely and utterly uncomfortable with the mind scanning deal. Hiding what she felt, how the world affected her, was her most powerful defense. Alex's ability left her essentially defenseless and that was a feeling Faith had been unhappily familiar with during her childhood. Staring at the blonde, Faith noticed a faint bruising and a tiny scar on her cheek. She gently touched it, surprised when the skin turned a dark purple. 

"Whoa!" Alex commented studying the bruise. As Faith released her finger, the obstruction slowly returned to its normal yellow hue. 

"That's fucking weird." 

"Certainly not normal." Alex concurred. "There's nothing WE can do...but, maybe we should take her to the hospital?" She suggested already aware of what the reaction would be. 

"No, she hates hospitals." Alex chewed lightly on her bottom lip, thinking. 

"Giles?" Faith sighed heavily, but one look at the little slayer reestablished her focus. Reluctantly the brunette slayer picked up the phone and dialed information. 

*****

Buffy looked around. She was walking on a sidewalk, a sidewalk in Sunnydale. She paced up a hill located just beyond the Expresso Pump. She felt she was being pulled somewhere. In front of a house at the top, she noticed two young girls: one a brunette and the other a redhead with freckles. Both girls could not have been more than eight. Though the blonde slayer could not place either, she felt compelled to watch them as they shoved each other good-naturedly and ran around. 

Suddenly a young boy appeared, coming from the side of a car parked in the driveway. He tagged the surprised redhead. 

"You're IT!" He laughed scurrying away and the brunette bolted in the opposite direction. Watching undetected by Buffy and the children was a black figure, perched in the driver's seat of the car. 

Buffy couldn't help but smile at their playfulness. She watched as the little redhead chased the boy up the sidewalk a little ways, before he tripped loosing a shoe in the process. She was about to walk over and check on him when he got up laughing, hopping up and down to keep his sock clean. The two young girls giggled as he hobbled into the road to retrieve his shoe. As he bent down to grab it, a car came barreling over the hill. Buffy made a move to push him out of the way, but she fell through him like a ghost. The converging sounds of screeching car tires, thudding impact, and raw human screams augmented the horror of the moment. 

*****

"Shit, did you see that?" Faith pointed at the blonde slayer. Her body jerked suddenly upward as if she had fallen. Leaning over Buffy, Faith checked her vitals. They were fine, although her pulse had most definitely quickened. "I hate this!" she gently adjusted the pillow behind the blonde's head. 

It was now early morning and Faith had slept very little. She had spent most of the night keeping a diligent watch over Buffy. 

"Yeah," Alex attempted a scan, but the images were still jumbled. 

"So...are you like a slayer or something?" Faith started a conversation, trying to stop from worrying about the girl on the couch. 

"What?" Alex asked. 

"You fight good and you didn't seem to have any trouble taking that vamp out." 

"Oh thanks, but I'm not a slayer." She smiled. 

"Well, you're not a normal human." Faith stated, eyeing Buffy as a precaution. 

"Nah, I got some slayer strength, not like you and Buffy, but I can hold my own. I can't heal like mom and Buffy can, but not being a slayer or a demon it's a pretty sweet deal." Alex smirked and Faith nodded in agreement. 

"I woulda liked to be born with it." Faith confided. 

"It has its draw backs," the young brunette was clearly not going to elaborate on that statement. 

"I guess." 

"Giles should be here soon," Alex changed the subject. No sooner had those words left her mouth than the large knocker echoed loudly. Alex sighed her relief and got up to let him in. 

"What happened here?" Giles was astonished as he saw the blonde slayer on the couch. 

"Don't know, we went out patrolling and saw something screwin' around in this bush. We were gonna go check it out, when these two vamps came outta nowhere. Me and the kid took care of it, but when we finished 'em B was gone. We finally found her behind the same bush." Giles was surprised the extreme sadness in her eyes. 

"Yes, well...did you see what caused the disturbance in the bushes?" 

"No, but it was dark almost black," Faith looked to Alex for confirmation. 

"Well, yes it was night." The slayer rolled her eyes. 

"No the creature, G-man, it was black." 

"Oh, yes. Sorry." Giles knelt down. Not entirely comfortable with Faith, he watched her out of the corner of his eye. While examining Buffy's vitals, he lifted her eyelids to check her pupil dilation. "Goodness." He exclaimed, backing away as if spooked. 

"What?" Alex asked. She knelt to mimic his actions. "Oh, shit". 

She recoiled in disgust. Beneath the blonde's lids, a thin dark purple film covered the surface of her eyes. 

"Damn, that's fucking gross" Faith commented, her concern for her slayer friend increasing ten-fold. 

*****

The man adjusted his gray suit jacket as he waited at the Motel's front desk. He peered over the counter into the back room, seeing no one. Calling out into the dingy depths, he impatiently tapped the service bell. 

"Hello? Madame? Sir?" 

"Y'all hold your horses now!" A woman with curly red hair piled loosely on top of her head and clothes tight enough to restrict breathing emerged from the back. Despite the seedy environment, her clothing was immaculately cleaned and expensive in appearance. She was not unattractive and had a friendly, gleaming white smile. "What can I do you for suga'? A single? A double?" 

"No thank you, I'm looking for a young woman who might be staying here." 

"Mmm Hmm." The woman gave him a knowing smile. 

"Faith, Faith Ryan...have you seen her?" Her inviting expression fell. She looked at him sadly. 

"No, the little darling hasn't been 'round, since before Bill left." She looked off to the side. 

"Bill?" The man asked. 

"My husband, he used to run this little ole' motel. Up and died last year, just like that. Not the nicest man, if I do say so myself. Certainly didn't cut that poor girl any slack bout her rent." She shook her head. 

"So, you've not seen her recently?" 

"No, sir." He sighed heavily. 

"Thank you for your assistance." 

"Y'all want to know what, between you and me? she's just as sweet as apple pie." She smiled lost in some memory. 

"Ah ha." The man adjusted his suit again as he prepared to leave. 

"You just wait one minute, I think I know a man who could help you out." She seemed to remember something. She retreated into the dimly lit recesses of the back room, coming back with a paper. "You talk to him, he runs that club, and she knows him. If anyone knows where she is...it's this man. His name is Mister Anderson, Dave Anderson." Her southern drawl was almost over-whelming. 

The man pocketed the address, smiling tightly. "Thank you Miss, your help is very much appreciated." He quickly left the office. 

"Y'all come back now!" She hollered after him. 

*****

Buffy was gasping, shocked by the tragedy that she had just witnessed. Running her fingers through her hair, she composed herself enough to notice she was no longer on the sidewalk. Taking in this new place, she was a little repulsed. It was a small apartment as far as she could tell. It did not smell great and was quite ratty. When she walked she felt the knotted, worn carpet resisting her movement. 

She looked around the place and jumped about a mile when the front door opened. She watched as a little girl with dark brown hair peered in, her chocolate eyes looking around the area. She was carrying a backpack that oddly enough appeared to be moving. Buffy watched the child with interest. Quietly closing the door, the little girl made her way through the apartment checking every room. Satisfied that there was no one else home she entered a small room off to the right. Buffy stealthily followed. A small, black, demonic figure crept silently behind her slipping into the closet, remaining unseen. 

The little girl laid her backpack on top of a mattress shakily held on cinder blocks. On the bed was a single stuffed animal, a well-worn alligator. She unzipped her bag the rest of the way and out crawled a tabby kitten. It mewed softly as the little girl picked it up, speaking reassuringly to it. 

"Hey there, kitty." The girl softly stroked between its ears. The kitten looked at the girl with big green eyes. "You lost your family huh?" The animal continued not to answer, but the girl was unconcerned. "I can take care of you." 

"What the fuck is that animal doing in the house?" Both Buffy and the girl's heads whipped around to see an awful looking man leaning in the doorframe. His arms were crossed over his chest and his dark eyes were maliciously eyeing the kitten in questioned. 

"I...I" 

"I...I...what?" He mocked, stepping dangerously forward. The little girl's arms tightened protectively around the tabby. 

"He was in the alley and..." 

"And you just thought you take that piece of filth inside, thing probably has rabies, what the fuck is wrong with you?" He made a move to come closer. Buffy came to stop him, but he passed through her. 

"What is going on?" Buffy yelled, but it was evident that she went unheard. She attempted to grab him again, but nothing worked. 

"No, I'm sorry, he just was all by himself and..." the little girl stumbled through her words, wincing. 

"Shut the fuck up and give me the cat." 

"No...daddy...I...." He slapped her across the face. 

"Give me the fucking cat! Now!" His voice had become more of a roar. 

"Don't hurt it, please." The little girl pleaded cradling both her cheek and the cat valiantly. Buffy was attempting to leave the room, to find something to throw at him, but found herself unable to leave and unable to help. 

His voice softened impossibly. "I won't hurt the kitty...just give it to Daddy...honey, I want to see the kitty, you have to let Daddy see it. Okay?" He smiled, but his kindness was so out of place. The little girl warily handed the cat to him. 

Buffy tried to get it from him. Her hands just fell through it; she was helpless and it was killing her. He smiled at the little girl placing his large hand gently on the kitten's head. His expression hardened and he suddenly twisted the animal's neck until a tiny snap echoed through the room. The little girl screamed as the kitten fell to the ground and Buffy's hand covered her mouth in shock. 

"Don't you ever fucking try anything like that again." The little girl stared at the kitten. He grabbed her chin moving over her tiny body. "Look at me!" She raised her teary eyes to his. "You know daddy can't just let you get away with shit like that. Don't you?" 

"No...Daddy...please...I'm sorry...I'm." She pleaded trying to wriggle away, but he easily stopped this. Buffy tried to pull him off, but she could not grip him, she could not hold anything tangible. The blonde threw wild fists at his back, but she could do nothing. 

"No...Daddy...please...don't," she was sobbing, trying again to slip out from under him. He smiled in a most off-putting way before pinning the child down. 

"Shhhh..." He covered the little girl's mouth with one hand as the other reached to unbuckle his belt. 

*****

The three of them were completely stumped concerning Buffy's condition. The lull in conversation provided Faith with the opportunity to get in another apology. 

"Look Giles, um...I'm sorry for all the stuff I did back then, I was fucked up, I know that's not an excuse, but I am sorry...For all of it." 

The watcher seemed to consider this for a few minutes. "I cannot forget your transgressions against the others, especially Buffy..." Faith nodded. "However, if you have made your peace with her, then you have made your peace with me. Your apology is accepted and for what it is worth, I respect your efforts to change." Faith smiled gratefully at him, looking sideways at Alex who was also smiling. 

"This is clearly demon related!" Giles stated. Alex and Faith agreed. 

"Wait check this out, G-man" Faith remembered something. She leaned down to show him the mark on Buffy's cheek. 

"I wish you would not call me that." He conversationally muttered. The brunette lightly pressed the bruise and it once again turned the deep purple. In fact, the three of them noticed it was the same color as the film over her eyes. "Quite odd." As Faith removed her hand from the blonde's cheek, Buffy's fists began flailing wildly and tears flooded her closed eyes. 

"Shit!" Faith cried out ducking a punishing blow. "What the fuck is happening?" She ducked another wild punch. 

"Nightmare?" Alex weakly suggested, from across the room. Her and Giles had quickly moved to safe distance. She once again attempted a mind scan, but was met with the same jumbled pictures. Faith climbed on the couch holding the blonde's swinging fists down. 

"B? Come on, B! Hey, it's okay!" She spoke softly into the blonde's ear. The blonde just threw her fists out harder, tossing the unsuspecting slayer halfway across the room. She skidded on the stone floor. "Shit" Alex and Giles watched the scene beyond surprised. Lifting herself up, Faith ran back over to shaking slayer. 

She tried to calm her again. "Hey, B, it's alright, you're good." She gently took her hands to stop the flying fists. Buffy's eyes shot up and she began jerking about, disoriented. The blonde fell off the couch and consequently into brunette's lap. Faith, unsure of how to react, softly touched the smaller slayer's head. "You're good," she whispered. Buffy raised teary green eyes to Faith's deep brown ones. Recognizing that it was Faith, something clicked for her. Clinging to the brunette with everything she had, she began sobbing uncontrollably. All Faith could do was hold her tightly, with wide eyes. 

*****

"How is she?" Alex asked, as Faith appeared from a bedroom. 

"Don't know, but something's got her pretty fucking shaken up." 

Alex sadly nodded. "She's asleep though, think she was pretty exhausted." 

"How are you?" 

"Not important." Faith sat on the couch, supporting her chin on her hands. 

"It is." Alex insisted, taking a seat next to Faith. 

"How the hell am I supposed feel? I feel completely useless. I can't fucking help her, I don't even know what the hell happened to her." 

"No one does, except maybe her." Suddenly something clicked for the young woman. "Huh." 

"Did something occur to you Alexis?" Giles asked as he took a seat in the armchair. He had just walked in with a cup of tea for both Faith and the other girl. Nodding her appreciation, Faith grabbed at the cup of tea on the table. The smell of the herbal tea itself had calmed the brunette enough to stop her shaking. 

"Well, I tried to scan Buffy while she was out." 

"Scan?" Giles had no idea what the girl was referring to. 

"Read her mind." She clarified, smiling. 

"You have this ability?" Giles was fascinated, when the girl nodded. "Fascinating!" 

"The signals were jumbled." She said as if it were supposed to mean something to the other two people in the room. 

"And?" Faith prompted. 

"Well mind scanning is locking on to someone's telepathic signal, I can do it because I recognize you and Buffy's signals...but her signal was scrambled..." Alex answered. 

"And?" Faith repeated completely not getting it. 

"Interference" Giles realized. 

"Exactly!" Alex nodded. "I figure someone must already using her signal, I couldn't make a clear connection. The human brain only has one jack that a telepath can plug into, the only way I would be unable to do it, is if I lost the power, which is impossible because I can hear Faith thinking this is bullshit." The slayer glared at the girl. "Someone else has to be using it." 

"So, you think someone else already is intercepting the information in Buffy's mind." 

"It has happened before in my dimension." Alex answered. "The question is who?" 

"And why the hell are you so smart, if you're me and B's daughter?" Faith added. Alex barely stifled a laugh. 

"Well, perhaps we should get a research session together to investigate the potential demon threat and see if we can't find out what occurred here today. For tomorrow?" Giles suggested grabbing his coat. "I suggest we all get some rest tonight. I'll gather some books. Just make sure you check on her." 

"No problem Giles" Alex said getting the door for him. 

"Yeah." 

"Well, I will see you all tomorrow! Are you quite sure you do not need help?" 

"Yeah, we got it" Faith answered looking toward the door of the bedroom. He left quietly, stepping into the warm afternoon sun. 

"Well, I'm gonna take a nap, I'm bushed." Alex stated as she picked up the coffee mugs and took them to the kitchen. She also slept very little last night. Faith was deep in thought, but drew herself out enough to wish the young girl a peaceful sleep. 

*****

Buffy lay on her side, eyes wide, staring at nothing. She could not figure out what was going on. What had happened? Why was she dreaming such horrible things? Why were they so vivid? When she found herself in the mansion, she thought it was another horrible nightmare, but she soon realized it wasn't. Faith had talked so sweetly and her eyes were so concerned. It was not a nightmare, but the blonde was afraid to sleep for fear that the dreams might return. Maybe it was something she ate? She had heard once that indigestion could make you dream strange things, but Faith's pizza was fine. She ate pizza all the time. 

Buffy rolled on her back looking at the ceiling. Realizing there was going to be no sleep for her, she pulled herself out of bed walking into the kitchen. 

"B?" A voice called from the living room, startling the blonde. 

"Faith, what are you doing up? It's late." 

"Looked outside B?" 

"What??" Buffy asked confused by the response. 

"It's like three in the afternoon." Faith smiled softly at the older woman. Buffy chuckled almost patronizingly at herself. 

"So what are you doing alone in the living room looking all tired?" Buffy tried. 

"You feeling any better?" Faith asked, ignoring the question. The only answer that had come to mind was 'worrying about you' and the brunette was not about to say that. 

"Yeah, I guess." The blonde poured herself a glass of water. 

"Um...you wanna talk about it?" Faith tugged at the sleeves of a jacket she had yet to take off from last night. 

"No." Buffy swiftly replied. Talk about it? She didn't even want to think about it. 

"That's cool." Faith swallowed looking at Buffy's almost pained expression. "I...I shit I'm sorry B, didn't mean to pry." Faith ran a hand through her hair. She was horrible at situations like this. She didn't know what to say, how to make it better for Buffy. How to rectify what ever had happened to the blonde or even how to begin. Faith was a doer, not a talker. Buffy looked at the brunette warily. Something she had just heard in the brunette's voice, that slight stutter, was eerily familiar. 

She shook it off. "Don't be sorry...you didn't do anything wrong." Buffy sighed. "Do you know what happened to me...in the graveyard?" 

"No...we were kinda hoping you could fill us in. We just found you behind a bush, you disappeared on us when those shit poor excuses for vamps attacked me and the kid." Faith felt so helpless. Not only did she not know what had happened, apparently no one knew what had happened to Buffy. The girl practically had a mental breakdown in her lap an hour ago, and there appeared to be no rhyme or reason to it. Buffy quietly took a seat next to Faith on the couch. 

After a few minutes Buffy spoke. She put away what had happened to her today, she was unable to process it...yet. A question had been jumping around her mind, refusing to be forgotten. "Why?" 

"Why what? B" Faith's brow knit in confusion. 

"Did you go all evil on me? Was it really that bad for you?" 

"Buffy...I...maybe this crap should wait, I mean something's happened to you, something fucking big. Maybe we should put it off." 

"Faith, I really want, I need you to explain it to me...please?" 

Faith sighed heavily, debating whether or not to lay her few cards on the table. Buffy's voice had been neither harsh nor accusatory and she had not given Faith a reason to think this would be a confrontational discussion. 

"One condition." Faith warned. 

"Okay, what?" Buffy was a little wary, but willing to comply. 

"I get to ask you a question, no bullshit, be honest." The blonde's anger rose a little at the implications of a plea for honesty, but realized it was necessary. They had rarely been completely honest with each other, one or the other of them always hiding behind something, some excuse. 

"Deal." They smiled at each other meeting in an awkward handshake. They were silent for quite a while. Faith was gathering her words before speaking. 


	6. Confessional

**PART 5: Confessional**

**Author's Notes:** I've given up on natural endings. Thank you to everyone who reads this and who gives feedback. It is appreciated. 

"I needed more than you were willing to give, B." 

"I don't under..." 

"Just hear me out?" Buffy nodded. "I came to Sunnydale cause I knew that you'd help me if he came." Taking in the blonde's confused expression she clarified. "Kakistos, he killed my watcher, fucking ripped her apart, I didn't think he'd find me, but I knew if he did that you'd help...plus, I was thinkin' two slayers? How cool is that? So, I met you at the Bronze that night and well, you know what happened." Not sure where this was going, Buffy nodded. "We started hanging, I got to know your friends and Mrs. S and it was cool...you know? Fuck, I guess I kinda saw us like one of those cartoon duos, like the super twins or some shit, only much more bad ass." Buffy smiled at the reference. "But, I guess no one else saw it that way. You didn't in tell me 'bout those meeting and it was like I was just there for backup. I was a Goddamn slayer too and the salt was just fucking grinded into the wound when the shit with Miss Mary Poppins wannabe watcher and Dead boy went down. I had this whole 'the world is out to screw me vibe', 'cause at that point it seemed like it was. It all got better for a while...we had some good times." Faith said the last part with a softness that her voice had not previously possessed. They shared a bitter smile. "We hung out, we went dancing and you invited me to Christmas at your house, and I was thinkin' maybe you were starting to feel..." Faith paused before she said too much. 

"Starting to feel what?" Buffy asked. She had no idea how Faith planned on finishing the sentence. 

"Jesus, B, sometimes. I swear to God I did everything I could fucking think of to show you without saying it, short of walking up and planting one on ya'!" The brunette decided to just be completely straight with Buffy. It was high time things were said, things that should have been said ages ago. 

"Huh?" Faith rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. 

"I'll break it down for you, B...all the problems, why I went all 'psycho'-slayer...I loved you, for fuck-sake I still do, you rejected me and I couldn't deal. You chose Angel over me, Buffy...When I killed Finch you didn't stand by me like you did with Angel, I knew the story, and I knew then you didn't feel it. Not like I felt it, don't know why I thought you did." Faith scoffed at herself. "I couldn't be with you everyday, hanging out, talking, slaying. It was fucking killing me and I mad as all hell that you would just dump the Finch shit all on me, so I took the easy way out. Am I proud of it? Hell no, but you wanted to understand. I needed more than you were willing to give, B! Damn, I needed all of you and you didn't want that. So, I wanted you to fucking feel something as strong I did...even if it was hate." Faith took a deep breath. 

"I...don't know what to say." Buffy was shocked. 

"Don't have to say anything, B...you asked and I was straight with you, I don't expect you to do nothing 'bout it." Faith spoke softly, half-ashamed at what she said. She could not help but wonder if she had just made a huge mistake, but was sick to death hiding this. The brunette slayer had planned it out so many times in so many ways during her stay in jail. It had to be said sometime. Why not nip their happy reunion in the bud? Attachments are painful anyway Faith thought bitterly. "My turn." 

"Um...okay, what's your question?" Buffy was surprised that she herself had stayed in the room after what Faith just told her. Moreover she was surprised at how much it did not surprise her at all. The brunette slayer was quiet for quite a long time. 

"Why the hell are so angry at me? I mean, why is it so hard for you to forgive me?" It was implied in the question-- as opposed to Angel and the others who had hurt Buffy. 

"I..." Buffy was stunned. Faith had unerringly chosen the one question she didn't have an answer for. She relaxed, trying to clear her mind and thought hard. "I don't know." 

Faith nodded slowly looking agitated. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for about ten minutes. Buffy needed time alone to think, to sort what had just happened out in her mind. It was too much for her to deal with. 

"I...need to take a walk." Buffy got up off the couch and left. Faith watched her go, but thought the better of following her. 

*****

Buffy walked steadily down the sidewalk. It was around six and the cooler night air swirled calmingly through her blonde hair. What was happening to her? Faith. The girl was in love with her. Faith was in love with her. She could not think straight enough to consider it. Buffy exhaled deeply, deciding to head back to her own house. The mansion seemed to be the origin of all this weirdness. She knocked lightly on the door. 

"Honey, your home!" Joyce welcomed her daughter home, hugging her. 

"Hi mom." Buffy replied, her hug not quite as enthusiastic. 

"What's wrong?" Joyce looked her daughter in the face, draping the back of her hand over Buffy's forehead, checking for a temperature. The blonde slayer smiled upwards shaking off the hand. 

"I'm fine, I'm just tired." She replied. 

"What happened with Faith?" The elder Summers asked, as Buffy sat on the couch. 

"What do you mean?" Buffy was confused. How would her mother know something had happened with the brunette? 

"Did she leave, honey? You said you didn't trust her so you were staying at the mansion to watch her." Joyce reminded the girl, looking worriedly at her. 

"Oh, no she's still here, I...she's changed mom, I don't know what else to say." 

"Well, you're sure Buffy?" She nodded reassuringly at her mother. "I'll trust your judgment, then." Somewhere inside, Joyce wanted to believe Faith had changed. She had always liked the girl. The brunette slayer was just desperately unhappy and she hoped, against the logical, that the girl would find whatever it was she needed. 

"I think I'm going to stay here tonight." 

"Honey are you sure you're okay?" She sat next to Buffy. She looked gently into the blonde girl's eyes, eyes that were swelling with tears. Joyce simply opened her arms up to her daughter and a completely overwhelmed Buffy let herself cry a second time. 

*****

Faith looked down and noticed how filthy her bandage had gotten during patrol. Glad that she had something else to focus on, she got up and went to her bedroom. Retrieving a fresh one, she retook her seat on the couch. The noise of the closing door, when Buffy had left, roused Alex from a light nap. Watching the scene in confusion, Alex spoke up. 

"What happened to your wrist?" 

"I got in a throw down in jail, big one with this chick." Alex cringed a little as she saw the slayer's wrist. It had the pale discoloration that skin acquires, when wrapped for extended periods of time. Beyond that it looked as though a bear had mauled her wrist. The bone was not even under the skin as if it had been slashed at or chewed on and pale scars were visible in various places. Although it did not look weak, the wrist looked permanently damaged. Alex guessed it was probably one of those things that looked a lot worse than it really was. Faith rubbed at the skin, twisting it as she clenched and unclenched her fist. 

"How did it get like that?" 

"She had low self-esteem and a home-made knife, pretty sure the bitch was hell-bent on hacking my fucking hand off, should have seen her wrist though when I got the knife away. The guards broke it up...and broke me up." Alex was surprised at the frankness with which the brunette spoke. 

"Does it still hurt?" the girl asked cautiously. Faith rotated her wrist causing all sorts of pops and snaps. 

"Not so much... shakes though." She held out her right hand and tremors ran gently through it. "That's why I use the sword." 

"Right-handed huh? Couldn't you just teach yourself to do it with the left? You could be ambidextrous!" 

"Ambi-what?" Faith asked. 

"Ambidextrous, means you can do everything with both hands!?" Alex held up her hands wiggling her fingers while making an 'ooo' sound as a demonstration. 

"Maybe, but the sword's pretty fucking cool." 

"Fair enough." Alex nodded. "So, where'd Buffy go?" The young girl raised her eyebrow. 

"I fucking told her" Her voice was filled with disbelief. 

"Told her what?" 

"I love her." Faith stared off into space. 

"You didn't." 

"Yeah." She sounded as though she regretted it. 

"Wow. What did she say?" Alex was worried for Faith's emotional state. 

"Didn't say anything, except that she didn't know what to say." 

"Coulda been worse!" Alex added quietly, Faith reluctantly agreed. The slayer felt that she had not yet seen Buffy's true reaction, because with all that was going on, the blonde was too distracted to let such a development sink in. The phone rang. 

"Hello?" Alex responded into the phone. "Buffy?...Hi...oh, okay...Yeah, Giles wants to have a meeting tomorrow...sure, your house is good...mm hmm...good night...I'll tell her...bye." She hung up the phone. "Buffy's staying at her house tonight, we're gonna have the meeting at her house tomorrow. She says good night. Okay?" Faith shrugged. Alex sensed the girl's inner turmoil, but let her alone. 

*****

The man held his gray jacket tight against him. The winds had swept in. He looked up at the sign above the building and again at the paper in his pocket. This was it! Pushing the doors open, he heard a jazz band playing softly somewhere off to the left. The smoky atmosphere of the joint caused his unaccustomed eyes to tear and itch. A man with a grin and a towel over his shoulder approached him. 

"Hey there, what can I do for ya'?" He flipped the towel down wiping his hands on it, before extending one. 

"Are you one Mr. Anderson, Dave Anderson?" The man inquired desperately, taking the offered hand. The ensuing shake was a little too firm for his liking. 

"Depends, who wants to know Geeves, eh!" Dave burst into wheezy laughter elbowing the surprised Englishman. 

"Ahem" the man cleared his throat. "Right, quite funny. Have you been in contact with a girl by the name of Faith Ryan?" 

"Nope, she never let me, woulda liked to though!" Another wheezy laugh accompanied this remark. "No but seriously, I haven't seen the sweet thing around. Girl's got a voice like an angel though, beautiful!" 

"You're quite certain she hasn't been around here?" 

"Absolutely! Thing that nice, don't forget her. Used to sing here, drew quite a crowd, It's shame she's not still around." The man was beyond frustrated as he mumbled a thank you in Dave's direction. The club owner simply shrugged and went about his business. The man slammed his car door, driving back in the direction of his hotel. He grabbed his cell phone dialing a familiar number. 

"She is not in any of the places where I was directed to search..." he began irritably, "Yes, the time limit...I don't believe she is here...Yes, I know this is what she wanted...I cared for her too...no, I am not refusing, but...yes, it is company policy...but, sir the girl is near impossible to locate and I can't very well...I am aware...four days?...my job? Sir you can't mean...yes, I understand, reputation sir." He heaved a sigh. "Very well...yes, you as well." He slammed the phone down, speeding the car up a great deal. "Damn it all to bloody hell." 

*****

Joyce had held her daughter while she cried and when the tears let up, allowed the girl to retreat upstairs for much needed sleep. However, sleep would not come tonight. Buffy sat cross-legged on her bed. She had called the mansion to let Faith know what happened. She needed space, time to think. The blonde had always been a girl who needed friends, just a couple close-knit buddies, but she was not one to talk out her problems and share. As a slayer, she had learned to internalize what she felt so it had little affect on her job. It unfortunately was a skill that fit in all to well with her natural desire for privacy. She spent many a night just thinking, sorting through the pieces of her life. Buffy felt no need to share most of her thoughts and private experiences with her friends, she preferred to deal on her own, but was not unwilling to ask for help when she needed it, reluctant maybe but not unwilling. She always tried to solve it herself first. As a result of this facet of her personality, much of her private life was unknown to her friends. They had a basic outline of her life, key facts without the intrusive personal details. 

By herself, completely awake, in the silence of the night she could be completely honest with herself. She could allow those secrets, past and present, to surface in her conscious mind. At this point in time her memories and private thoughts revolved around one Faith-shaped world. Faith was supposedly in love with her. She had never felt that the brunette was incapable of love, just that she did not want it. However given the nonsensical nature of love itself, Faith may have unwittingly fallen victim. Buffy reflected on the time she and the brunette had spent together, a particular night popped into her memory. It was before the killing, a few days before they had gone out dancing. It was a night she had not shared with her friends, a night she did not feel anyone else need to know about, the night she first felt it. 

*****

Faith pushed herself up from the ground of the cemetery. Noticing how tender her foot was, she shot a malicious glare at the jagged outcropping that had caused her trip during her fight. She was mentally cursing herself for not wearing her usual docs. She and Buffy had been training before patrol and she had worn a pair of old well-weathered boots. She had opted for a pair of medium blue jeans, a red tank top, and a black leather belt. 

"You okay?" Buffy walked over, breathing heavily. The blonde was flushed and glowing post-fight. 

"Yeah, fucking rock!" Not thinking Faith kicked the stone with her newly sore foot, immediately she gasped in pain. She noticed her foot began to feel warm and a little wet. "Shit, it's bleeding." 

"You're sure?" Buffy asked taking in the red spot seeping through the torn leather near the toe region. "Ouch, come on, we'll go to my house, I've got first aid stuff. I'll clean you up." 

"It'd take a lot more than a first aid kit to do that, B" Faith waggled her eye brows jokily. Buffy shook her head smiling. 

"Come on, you!" Noticing the brunette struggling on one foot, Buffy placed an arm round her waist, supporting her. 

"Aww, B, I didn't know you cared!" 

"You're such a dork." The blonde simply smiled at her and they slowly made their way to Summers' house. No one else was home. Buffy helped Faith up the stairs to her bedroom. 

"Sit." She pointed to her bed. Faith obediently did as told. Buffy knelt down and rolled up her friend's pant leg to the knee. Unlacing the boot was simple, but removing it proved considerably more difficult. 

"Fuck" Faith bit her lip in pain. "Damn it B, gently, I'm fragile." She added the last part with mock seriousness. 

"Sure you are...wuss" Faith glared at the girl, who softened. "It's going to hurt no matter how I do it, so get ready." The blonde looked up into Faith's face. She nodded preparing herself. 

"Owwwwww!" Faith yelped as Buffy pulled the damaged boot free of her foot. "Shit" Faith gritted her teeth. 

"Are you okay?" Faith shook it off and nodded slowly. The blonde went for the girl's sock, the toe of which was rather bloody and torn up. Faith's fists clenched as Buffy rolled it off her foot. "It's not that bad!" Buffy was pleased. The brunette looked downward. It was very sore and she guessed she had stretched a few muscles too far. Her foot was skinned in multiple places, but none were very deep. Her big toe however, was not looking too hot. The nail had been bent backward. It would sting, but no permanent damage. The blonde slayer had come back with a first aid kit. She began cleaning the wound. 

"Damn, B, that hurts!" The dark slayer was jerking every time the blonde applied iodine to the injured areas, making it exceedingly difficult for her to clean them. 

"You know for a slayer, you sure are a big baby, Faith." The girl looked positively offended. 

"It stings God damn it!" Faith attempted to defend her actions. 

"Well what do you want me to do about that? We can't leave it, Faith. It will get infected!" Buffy shot back. 

"Kiss it better?" The brunette tried, smiling crookedly. The blonde gave her a look in response. 

"Just try to hold still." Buffy went back to her cleansing and Faith tried to keep her foot still. She put a dual pain relieving and antibacterial spray over the surface abrasions and used a gauze pad and medical tape to protect the nail on Faith's toe. "All better!" She announced. 

"Thanks B, guess I should be going." Faith said, getting up unsteadily on her one good foot. 

"What? Are gonna hobble home at this hour? Don't think so. You're so going to stay the night." Buffy winced in pain as she stood up. She stretched her back. 

"What's the what, Buffy?" The usage of Buffy's entire name betrayed the depth of Faith's concern. 

"My back's a little sore, it's nothing." She stretched some more. 

"Let me give you a massage, least I can do. Hell, I just had you squattin' down on the floor..." 

"What?" Buffy's eyes widened in shock. It took the brunette a minute to realize how what she had just said sounded. 

She burst out laughing. "Damn B, I didn't mean it like that. You're fucking dirtier than I am!" It was the blonde girl's turn to be offended. Faith just continued to laugh. 

"Not funny, how was I to know that little miss innuendo could overlook one that obvious!" The blonde pouted while crossing her arms, which stretched her sore muscles. "Ouch!" 

"Let me give you a massage, B." Faith said as she tried to stop laughing. 

"Fine." Buffy climbed onto her bed and Faith attempted follow, forgetting her sore foot. When the pressure was applied to it, pain shot up through her. In an involuntary reaction to the pain, she whipped her foot up off the floor. This caused her to fall over the side of the bed and flat on her ass. 

"Oh my God Faith, are you okay?" Buffy tried to figure out what had just happened between muffled giggles. "Very graceful." 

"I'm a fucking klutz, I know" Faith mumbled, laughed it off. Hopping up, she successfully mounted the bed. Buffy had never seen her smile and laugh so much, but she rarely spent social time with the brunette. She had a beautiful smile, which lit up her normally dark face. She seemed unusually happy. It was nice to just hang out with the girl. Faith was remarkably normal and fun to be with when she was alone with Buffy. She toned down the bravado and she was a friend, not a slayer. Her and Buffy had fun together, sometimes they got a little carried away, but it was fun. 

Faith scooted up behind the blonde, running skilled fingers over her shoulders. She slowly made her way down Buffy's back working out the knots. The blonde could not stop the soft moans that escaped her throat. It was so relaxing for her and it felt so good. Faith remained silent throughout the massage, but Buffy felt the heat emanating from the girl's body against her back. She felt the slight tremor that would run through the other slayer when she vocalized her pleasure and she saw the accompanying goose bumps that rose on the skin of Faith's uncovered leg. And she most definitely felt her body's response. That was the last memory she had of the night. 

Buffy awoke to the warm morning sun streaming through her window and a protective embrace. Almost unconsciously she snuggled into the arms; it had been so long since she was last held. Stretching out, she noticed how rested she felt. Her movement caused the person next to her to stir. 

"Mmm." A distinctly female yawn. Buffy turned her head to see her sister slayer just waking up. She was surprised. "Morning lover" Faith whispered in her ear. 

"Funny." Buffy responded, pretending not to be amused and trying to suppress the shiver that had run through her when Faith's breath tickled her ear. 

"I thought so." 

"How did this happen?" Buffy asked referring to their current position. Faith laughed sleepily. 

"Someone fell asleep in my god damn lap while they were getting a massage. Didn't wanna wake you. You're so cute when you sleep." Faith smirked saying the last part in a sickly sweet voice. Buffy rolled her eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments. Buffy was surprised at the ease she felt with this and with Faith. "Damn B, get up already, my arm is killing me!" 

Buffy decided to continue their play flirting. She sat up in the bed, "Way to spoil a moment." 

"Moment?" Faith arched her brow, also sitting up. Buffy simply laughed tossing a pillow at the brunette. 

*****

Buffy smiled at the memory. Maybe she had encouraged Faith's feelings toward her, she flirted back. She realized perhaps she wasn't surprised Faith loved her, because somewhere inside she was aware of the seriousness behind the constant flirtation. A seriousness evident in the brunette's deep eyes. Her relationship with Faith was like her relationship with many boys in LA had been. A flirtatious friendship; one where she knew the guy wanted her and played with that. She had teased Faith, unwilling to assume it could mean something to the brunette. However she was aware and it surprised her and it scared the hell out of her. She felt it. That connection that Faith had spoke of-- she had touched it and it well and truly frightened her. She was not ready for something like that in her life, so she had pushed her away. She too had taken the easy way out. Suddenly it struck Buffy. She was so angry at Faith because she had made her feel something she did not want to. She was angry because Faith had drawn her in. With Angelus, Buffy did not feel the same level of torture when they fought as she did with Faith. She could rationalize the situation because Angel was not Angelus, he was a soulless evil, but Faith was Faith however she behaved. Her first truly human adversary was also someone she felt very deeply for, although not admittedly. She was angry because Faith made her feel. Angelus was just a demon and she knew how to take care of that, but Faith confused her emotions. On the rooftop at Angel's, Buffy remembered saying that Faith had made her the victim, but maybe it was not the type of victim she initially believed. She was a victim of feelings beyond her control, of love and the pain that it could bring. She had seen the both sides of Faith, and still Buffy felt it; that special connection she had only had with the other slayer. She picked up the phone to make an important call.


	7. The Enemy Surfaces

**PART 6: The Enemy Surfaces**

**Author's Notes:** This part is kind of an introduction for the villian, but the next part will focus more heavily on the B/F relationship. 

"So how alike would you say me and your Faith are?" Faith decided to patrol to keep her mind of the damage she had most likely caused Buffy. Alex of course wanted to tag along, and Faith did not really mind. 

"I'd say very alike, but I'm not sure." Alex smirked in the brunette's direction. "Can I ask you some questions?" 

Faith looked skeptical, but agreed. "I guess." 

"You used to eat play dough? Like all the time?" Faith laughed out. 

"Yeah." 

"Do you have a stuffed alligator with the eye half-falling off tucked away in your bag?" 

The brunette slayer was a little embarrassed. "Take it everywhere, but no one knows about it." She whispered more to herself than to Alex. 

"It hangs out with Mr. Gordo." She chuckled. "Now for the whammy!" 

"Fucking hit me!" Faith was ready. 

"In the very back of your CD case, do you have a copy of Hangin' Tough?" The dark slayer's mouth dropped open and her face flushed light red. 

"Thought so." 

"Fuck." Faith shook her head in disbelief. "You tell anyone," 

"I know...you'll kill me." Alex smiled "I'd say you and mom are pretty similar, but you have your differences." 

"What differences?" 

"Well, you're so much more defensive." Alex said carefully. 

"I am not fucking defensive!" 

"Really? That was convincing." 

"Fuck you!" Alex gave Faith a look that said it all. "Sorry." She mumbled at the girl, who nodded. "So what else?" 

"Are you sure you wanna continue this conversation?" 

Faith sighed, "Yes." 

"Well, she doesn't swear quite so often." 

"Duck!" Faith yelled and the girl gave her a quizzical look before the slayer shoved her out of the way. Alex stumbled, but was able to regain her balance. She turned around to find Faith fighting a vamp, a really big vamp. 

*****

Buffy drummed her fingers on the nightstand as she listened to the ringing on the phone. No one was picking up. She needed to talk to someone. The blonde turned her head looking at the clock; it was 11. Not too late. Willow and Tara would probably still be up. Grabbing a jacket, she quietly crept out of her window. 

She found herself once again lost in thought as she kicked a stone hard up the sidewalk. It rolled into some bushes. She was surprised to hear a yelp of pain. She ran toward the bush fearing she had hurt a dog or something. Pulling back the branches, she revealed a black figure curled up and cradling its head. The slayer realized there was something exceedingly familiar about the demon. Pictures from her patrol with Faith flashed in her mind. She remembered. 

*****

Buffy watched the bushes Faith had pointed out. She moved stealthily toward them, keeping low and quiet. A noise from behind caused her turn around. Faith and Alex were fighting a couple of newbies. Knowing the other slayer could take care of them; she continued to make her way toward the rustling foliage. Pulling back the branches she saw a demon lying on the ground, twitching. It was the size of a small human, but thin and lithely muscled. Its skin was a glossy, rich black and looked as if it were plastic. She walked around behind the bush, but it appeared not to notice her. 

Placing a hand on her stake, Buffy gently nudged the creature with her foot. The demon's head spun around and it looked at her with icy blue eyes. She pulled the stake from her belt and backed away. The demon continued to stare directly into her eyes, standing up. Buffy found it impossible to look away and soon was nearly nose-to-nose with the demon. 

Before she could react, the demon placed its hand upon her cheek lightly pressing on the small scar. Buffy remembered how quickly and smoothly it moved. As it cocked its head to the side, a deep purple film flowed over the ice blue almost like a second eyelid. Her vision blurred and faded away. She felt a light touch on her forehead and then it all went to black. 

*****

"YEAH, that fucking rocked." Faith yelled, dusting her jacket off and sheathing her blade. She had gotten a good slay, finally. She rolled her neck, extending her hand to Alex who had been laid flat by the vamp's right cross. 

"Can't say I share your enthusiasm." She commented tasting the blood from her split lip. Faith shrugged, eyes alert and shining with energy. "Let's go back to the mansion?" 

The brunette slayer did not appear too pleased with the idea. Slaying was the only thing that had given her emotions a rest, but she nonetheless conceded. Faith walked slower than normal, secretly hoping for another vamp to attack. They chatted about nothing as they strode side by side. Ahead of them, just a little ways up, was a blonde girl looking into the bushes. 

Faith couldn't help but be reminded of Buffy. Noting a faint movement in the bushes the girl was watching, her slayer senses began to tingle. 

"Not again" she mumbled. Alex, noticing Faith was distracted, followed her eyes. She instantly understood the other woman's concern. The slayer moved to warn the stranger, when something quite unexpectedly leapt out of the bush and knocked the girl on her back. Faith was too surprised to move as the dark creature crouched over the blonde, something dripping from its head onto her face. The girl did not seem to be resisting. 

Coming back to herself Faith ran toward the scene, ripping the demon off the blonde. She was shocked to say the least to find Buffy lying disoriented on the sidewalk. This radical development distracted her enough for the demon to land a nasty slash on her left side. 

Faith gasped in pain, whatever the hell that had just hit her was sharp. It had torn straight through her leather jacket and into her side. She was not surprised to see blood staining her fingers where she had touched her side. She whipped around to find that Alex had grabbed the demon and was fighting it fiercely. Moreover, she appeared to be winning. A hard punch from the girl knocked it out cold. 

Buffy appeared to be coming out of whatever daze she was in. 

"Faith??" The blonde was confused. 

"B, what the fuck just happened?" 

"I...don't know." She looked over at the lifeless figure on the ground and some of the fog lifted. "That thing...in the graveyard?" 

"Not following ya'" Faith said gently, extending her arm to Buffy. She wasn't sure how to act with the blonde, the girl she loved. She had told her and Buffy had run. She said she was staying at her house, but apparently that plan fell through. The brunette slayer was unable to look her counterpart in the eye, wincing as Buffy took the offered hand. It pulled at the wound on her side. 

"You recognize this thing?" Alex asked lifting the body a little with her foot. She walked over to Buffy, whose forehead had a purple substance on it. Alex wiped at it; the drip was still wet. She noticed the same color dripping from a wound on the demon's head. It was demon blood. 

"The graveyard...ah, my head" Buffy answered through clenching her teeth. She had an amazingly horrible migraine, probably from slamming her head on the sidewalk when the demon hit her. 

"When we patrolled?" Alex asked lowering her voice. Buffy nodded and then jerked her head as if she could shake off the headache. Alex looked to Faith, noticing the brunette pealing up the corner of her tank top. She was surprised to see four long slices in her side; they were bleeding substantially. "Jesus mo...Faith, take this!" She took off her jacket, folding it, and pressing it against the slices. 

*****

The demon came to a half hour after the three girls left it for dead on the sidewalk. It pulled itself painfully up, looking about. Cradling its wounded arm against its chest, it retreated into the concealing haven of the bush. The demon moved quickly and with agility through the graveyard, into the woods, until it reached the mouth of a cave. Stepping into the dark cave, the demon dropped its wounded arm and let it hang uselessly by its side. Ice blue eyes lit up the cave like torches and the little light showing through the rock formation bounced off glistening skin. In the center of the cave was a crudely fashioned chair, chiseled out of large stalagmite. Around it, sat at least twenty of these demons. The wounded creature took its designated spot, directly in front of the throne. Assuming a meditative air, the demons filled the cave with low rumbling hum. The occupant of the chair sat casually observing the scene, a smile twitching on her lips. 

*****

"We can't have a quiet night can we?" Alex laughed as she helped Faith through the door to Buffy's house. Buffy was already inside and watching. Her headache was slowly fading. "Got first aid?" 

"I'll take care of it...her. You can sleep on the couch if you want." Buffy said. Alex shrugged tossing Faith's sword on the couch. The blonde slayer looked the brunette in the eyes. She hesitantly returned the stare. She placed her arm around the girl's waist, above the injury, and began to help her up the stairs. Faith was clearly not doing too hot, so she accepted the help without comment or argument. Her face was pale and her eyes drooped with exhaustion. 

"Sit." She motioned to her bed. Faith did so, but winced as it caused the torn skin to rub painfully together. "Okay, maybe you should lay down...hold on." The blonde slayer ran to get a towel and laid it on her bed. The brunette obediently laid on it, positioning it near her wound. She unlaced the girl's boots, removing the muddied footwear from her comforter. 

"This is familiar." Faith mumbled to herself. Buffy smiled sadly. 

"Faith...I." She began, but stopped. "I need you to take that jacket off." The brunette nodded struggling out of the torn leather. Buffy gently helped the brunette, slowly rolling up her tank top. "It's not that bad, not too deep." She cleaned the wound. Faith remained silent, staring wordlessly up at the ceiling. Minutes ticked by and the air became thick with tension. "Faith?" 

"Yeah?" The brunette's voice was horse with the pain she was feeling. 

"I...called you." Faith's brow knitted in confusion. "After I talked to Alex, I...called to talk to you, but...no one was home." 

Faith was silently digesting the implications. "Why?" She shifted a little so she could look in Buffy's face. 

"Be still." Her movement had caused a clotted slice to reopen. The blonde slayer gently forced Faith to lie on her back once again. 

"Why?" She repeated in almost a whisper, wincing. 

"I...you made me feel, Faith." 

"Huh?" The brunette wished she could turn to look at the other girl, but maintained her position so Buffy could continue her ministrations. 

"You asked me a question, that's my answer, you made me feel." The blonde slayer was still too unsure to bring her feelings to light. She was not completely ready. However, the statement provided Faith with more questions than answers. She voiced none of them. Nothing more was said for a quite a while. Faith silently stared at the ceiling and Buffy quietly knelt beside her while working on her injury, both were lost in thought. The dark slayer finally broke the silence. 

"Maybe I should head back." She cleared her throat. 

"...No Faith, not with your side, it's late." Buffy said softly, but earnestly. Faith proceeded to get up. "Where are you going?" 

"Couch." Faith answered, gently rolling her tank top over her now bare stomach and bandaged side. 

"Take the bed" Buffy said. "Alex is on the couch." 

"Oh" Faith answered awkwardly. "Well, where the hell are you gonna sleep?" 

"Um...floor." 

"No, fuck that B, it's your bed." Faith said in disbelief. 

"Faith, you're hurt...I can't let you sleep on the floor." 

"Yeah so are you, I'm sure as hell not gonna let you to the floor!" Faith crossed her arms over her chest to show her seriousness, but immediately regretted it. Buffy looked at the bed and sighed. It was big enough for two and she definitely didn't feel up to arguing. 

"I...we can share, I guess." The blonde said quietly. Faith looked shocked at the suggestion, but decided not to argue. She really wanted to sleep on the bed, but she wasn't about to let Buffy spend the night on the floor. This was the only solution. 

"Fine." The two slayers climbed into bed after Buffy changed, facing opposite directions and not a word was said between them. 

*****

The blonde slayer heard a phone ringing. Buffy found herself in someone's family room, one she most definitely did not recognize. She looked down to find that she was in her pajamas and her feet were bare. She saw thick, plush, off-white carpeting on the floor. The blonde slayer took a look around. It was a nice house, not too modest. It was the kind of home she would want for herself. There was a beautiful set of leather couches with glass-top end tables and a chez lounge. There was also a more than reasonably sized television that served as the center of an impressive entertainment center. It would be a decidedly grown-up room were it not for the brightly colored toys peaking out from behind the love seat. 

Buffy was startled by a shout from a room off to the side. 

"Honey, could you come in here please?" The voice was trembling and sounded tear-ridden, but was nonetheless familiar. Buffy watched as a little girl crawled out from behind the couch followed by a brunette woman wearing a silly explorer's hat. A golden-colored, medium sized dog with a ceaselessly wagging tail followed the woman. The blonde slayer couldn't see her face, as she put the hat down on the couch. 

"Be right back kiddo!" She whispered to the child touching her nose lightly. The girl smiled, crawling back behind the couch. Buffy moved to follow the brunette into the other room, but found she was unable to. She heard muffled voices and sobbing. Frustrated, the blonde walked around the room until she was behind the couch and watched the little girl playing with an array of stuffed African animals, while the dog rolled around on its back barking at itself. She smiled at the adorable scene, but was concerned about the fact that she could not leave this room. 

"Hey there!" She said sitting across from the child. It was evident that the little girl could not hear or see her. Behind Buffy and the little girl, watching from the staircase, was a black demon. After about ten minutes of trying to pick up objects, but having them fall through her hands every time, Buffy again heard a voice from the other room. 

"Hey kiddo, um...could ya' come in here for a minute?" 

"Sure mommy." The little girl answered moving her toys into a pile before bounding into the other room. Buffy was pleased to find she could follow this time. The dog stayed behind watching, with its head cocked to the side. She was shocked to say the least when she found a copy of herself held tightly by a concerned Faith. They were standing near a counter that had a portable phone lying on it. "Mama?" 

"Hey there!" The other, older Buffy said through teary eyes looking up from the other Faith's chest, sniffing a little. Faith kissed the top of her head, stroking her back lightly. "Um...mommy and me have something to tell you..." tears once again seeping from her eyes. Faith held the smaller woman tighter, and Buffy watched in awed silence as confused as the child was. 

"Come on, let's go in the TV room, huh?" Faith said grabbing the little girl's hand and leading her and Buffy into the room. They all sat on the couch, very quiet, the dog at their feet. Older Buffy was staring into space and Faith was watching her, running a comforting hand up her back. Buffy and the little girl were watching them, lost. 

"Hey kiddo, come here!" Faith said patting her lap. The child happily climbed up onto Faith, smiling. She looked at older Buffy before taking a deep breath. "Ya know Grandma Joyce?" 

The child brightened. "Are we gonna go to Grandma's?" The older blonde girl's eyes once again welled with tears and the brunette's already reddened eyes grew moist. 

"Uh" Faith's voice cracked and she swallowed. "No, kiddo..." She sighed, chewing her bottom lip. "Grandma..." The brunette was trying to come up with a way to say it. 

"She went away." Buffy said, tears still running down her cheeks. 

"Where?" The little girl's forehead crumpled. "Why are you so sad, mama?" 

Buffy tried to force a smile for the child. The little girl climbed over to give her a hug, which caused a veritable cascade of tears to pour from the slayer. She hugged the child tightly. 

Younger Buffy figured out what was going on and could not help but be shocked and deeply upset by this vision. 

*****

Faith was lying wide-awake in the bed. She was immensely uncomfortable. Not only because of the gashes in her side and the awkwardness between her and Buffy, but because the blonde appeared to be having a nightmare of sorts. Tears were falling from her closed eyes and her face was crumpled in an expression of sorrow. She felt helpless, a feeling she absolutely abhorred. All the most difficult and painful moments in her life were encapsulated by this feeling--- her family, her watcher, her love. She could not hold Buffy, which was her immediate impulse, due to their strained state and she was afraid to wake the girl. Faith just watched the sleeping girl's eyes darting back and forth, right to left, beneath her lids as tears slipped from beneath them. The blond suddenly turned on to her side. In the shallow moonlight Faith was able to make out a scar on her cheek. The brunette was instantly reminded of Buffy's nightmares at the mansion and she feared that this was a repeat. Reaching out to press the scar, Faith kept a sharp eye on Buffy's fists. As the skin slowly pressed inward that deep purple color flooded the surrounding area. 

"Fuck." Lifting her eyelids, she found the same purple film covering them. 

*****

Buffy's consciousness returned to her body and she found herself in a completely different setting. She peered through the dusty darkness and was able to surmise that she was in an abandoned warehouse. Her attention was captured by a noise from behind her. She turned and saw a figure creeping quietly behind the crates. As the figure grew closer she recognized her. Faith, but younger. She could not have been much older than fifteen. The brunette slayer had halted and was now peering guardedly toward the center of the room where a light suddenly appeared. 

"Slayer." Faith eyes widened as she realized she'd been discovered. Quickly steeling herself, she hopped the crates hiding her shaking hands in the pockets of her leather jacket. Following Faith, Buffy's jaw fell to the ground when she saw the misshapen and horrifying figure of Kakistos. 

"No, we killed him." She said to herself. 

"Slayer." He repeated staring directly into Faith's eyes. "You think yourself clever to have found us this quickly?" He laughed; a deep unnatural sound that boomed through the emptiness of the warehouse. "How clever was it to leave your one of your own so vulnerable?" 

"One of my own?" Faith looked worried as her brow knit in confusion. Her body was still tensed in a fighting position. 

"Your watcher." He answered smiling as much as his transformed face would allow. Buffy watched as Faith eyes widened and her body froze. Two smaller vampires brought an older woman, tied and blindfolded from behind some crates. "You see slayer, you still have much to learn." He walked over the woman and produced a knife from behind his back. He trailed it down her cheek allowing the blood to flow before collecting some on his fingers to taste for himself. 

"Fucking bastard!" Faith's hesitation allowed enough time for the other vampires to launch an attack on her. Buffy watched the scene in horror and she ran to help Faith, frustrated that she could do nothing. 

"NO." She screamed as one of the vampires grabbed a pipe and slammed Faith dead in the back of the head with it. The slayer swooned and fell to the ground. The lights in the warehouse flickered out, leaving only pitch black. 

Buffy wandered around the silent darkness, waiting for something, anything to happen. She could not find a way out. Calling out into the blackness, she was not surprised when no one answered. She sat dejectedly on a crate she had tripped over. Suddenly the lights came back on, but they were very dim. The lack of light distorted her vision making the warehouse look blurry. However what she could make out was Faith's motionless form on the ground and Kakistos standing dangerously close. 

"You disappoint me --far too simple a death, but it had been quite sometime since I tasted the blood of a slayer." He dismissed the other two vampires. Buffy watched in horror as the vampire knelt to gorge himself, but a movement in Faith's right hand caught her attention. A click was heard and Faith's hand struck like lightening. A long gash ripped its way down his face courtesy of the brunette's switchblade. 

The vampire howled in pain cradling his face and Faith quickly made a get away, but was stopped in her tracks by what was lying at the center of the room. A form, barely recognizable as human. Buffy could not halt her gag reflex at the sight. The skin was covered with lacerations, burns, punctures, and discolorations where it still was attached to the body. The amount of blood pooled around the victim left no doubt as to whether or not she had survived the ordeal. Open fractures were visible mid-arm and at the shin on the right side. The left leg was twisted at an angle that could only be attained through breakage. Other injuries, too numerous to describe, could be seen everywhere on the corpse. Faith too had purged the contents of her stomach when met with the gruesome scene. 

That same laugh barreled through the warehouse once more. "I've shown you your mistake slayer," the vampire walked toward the exit, touching his face. She blinded him, if only temporarily, but he recognized it for the weakness it was. "And you have shown me mine. You have delayed your death, but rest assured at our next meeting it will come." With that the vampire left, leaving Faith alone. She fell to the ground, sobs wracking her unaccustomed body. 

*****

Alex fluffed a throw pillow from the couch and unlaced her boots. She placed them over near the door and stretched out. She couldn't help but think of all the things she missed about her dimension. Everything here seemed strained and she missed the comfort of loving parents and of her friends. She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of someone coming down the stairs. Figuring it was Buffy; Alex stood up to greet her. 

Instead she found Faith. "It's happening again." The brunette stated. 

"What's happening?" 

"The fucking purple stuff and those dreams." Faith sat down on the couch. Gasping in pain, she decided that she'd better lie down. "Couldn't stay up there." 

"Is she okay?" Alex sat on the couch near Faith's feet. 

"She was crying" The brunette slayer was clearly upset. 

"Maybe we should wake her up?" Alex suggested. 

"Tried that last time, it didn't work" Faith knew that they could do nothing about this. 

"Well she'll wake up, we just have to wait I guess. She'll be fine." 

"Yeah" Faith answered staring at the ceiling. 

"How's your side?" 

"Okay" Alex nodded. 

"How are you?" She turned to look at Faith. The slayer seemed pretty shaken up about the whole Buffy situation, not that she could blame her. She was concerned for the blonde slayer too, but tried not to further Faith's worry with her own fears. 

"Five by five." As always the brunette slayer's lie was completely unconvincing. 

"Maybe we should just sleep." Faith nodded as Alex moved to a nearby armchair. 

*****

The gang had assembled at the dining room table in the Summers' residence. Alex, Faith, and Buffy lined one side of the table while Xander, Willow, and Tara took the other side. Tara and Willow had brought Buffy notes from her missed classes, for which she was duly thankful. Giles sat at the head of the table with a pile of old books he thought might be useful stacked in front of him. Dawn was at school. Alex and Faith looked exhausted. Neither girl had slept well and their wake-up call when Joyce found them asleep in her living room had been less than pleasant. Thankfully the noise had woken up Buffy and she had come down to defuse the situation. She explained Alex to her mother who looked at the child, whom she had discovered was her granddaughter, with a mixture of awe and bewilderment. Her expression was perfectly mirrored by Alex's. She had left for work soon after. 

Buffy was having a difficult time dealing with the visions she had dreamt last night. Originally, she had assumed that they were merely dreams, but the last vision had cast a doubt on that assumption. Faith had told her of Kakistos that there were no words for what he had done to her watcher. It was just like she had seen in her dream. If those dreams actually occurred than that would mean that the other two had also happened. She shuddered at that thought. Looking at the oblivious brunette slayer she felt a deep sympathy for her...what if Faith had been that little girl, then her father had... 

"So..." Xander began. "Any news on the latest big bad?" 

"Well actually yes, given the facts we have collected thus far, I was able to narrow the field of possibility." He made a grab for the books, opening them to pre-marked pages. "Buffy's condition can be attributed to..." 

"Condition?" Willow asked confused. Tara and Xander were wearing similar expressions. 

"Oh yes, you are still not aware." He gestured to the blonde slayer. 

"It appears that Buffy has been infected by some sort contact with a demon species. She has been receiving something akin to visions that appear in conjunction with a purple substance that covers her eyes like a second lid. We believe the purple..." 

"Wait...what?" Buffy interrupted, a little panicky. "Purple substance??" 

"You don't know?" Giles asked. The blonde looked back and forth between Faith, Alex, and Giles. 

"No..." 

"When you were out, it covered your eye and if we pressed on the scar on your cheek it turned purple." Alex answered. "We don't know why." 

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" The slayer was irritated. 

"There wasn't a good time." Alex answered. The blonde slayer realized that it was unimportant if they did not know why it was happening, but still released a sigh of annoyance. 

"Yes...well now that we are all caught up, Buffy's condition can be traced to any one of these demons. I have marked them off in the text..." 

"I saw it." Buffy interrupted. 

"Saw what?" 

"The demon...I saw it, last night, we all did." She looked at Faith and Alex who nodded. 

"Well...that will certainly speed up our researching...I would like you all to look at the choices and see if you can't agree on one. The rest of us meanwhile will continue to search for any that may have escaped me." 

*****

"Do you want some popcorn...it's the good kind made from kernels and stuff...oven popped?" Clem offered sitting on the sofa in Spike's crypt. Spike waved his hand dismissively in the demon's direction slumping even further into his armchair. 

"Suit yourself, you know Spike you really should get out more." The vampire turned glare at the demon before turning his attention back to his soap opera. "It's not good for you to be cooped up in this dank little crypt." 

"Sod off." He mumbled sipping blood from the mug on his end table. 

"Okay fine." Clem raised his hands, gesturing his surrender. He sat silently for a minute before speaking up again. "You know you should really try to forget the slayer, there are other fishes in the sea." 

"...I said sod off!" The vampire rolled his eyes dangerously, sinking so far into his chair that only the tips of his bleach-blonde hairdo were visible. 

"Fine, but all this brooding and depression can't be good for you!" Clem warned in a motherly tone. "We're playing kitten poker tonight... it'll be fun." 

"Yeah, yeah...I'll be there." Spike cradled his blood, sipping casually. 

"Okay then, Mr. Gloom and Doom." He picked up his popcorn making to leave when the front door of the crypt all but burst open. 

"Bloody hell Slayer..." He stood up, turning to look at the doorframe. 

"Ooh...that's not the Slayer" Clem shook his head. A woman walked in quietly, her eyes alert. Spike's eyes widened as he regarded the woman. Behind her, two of the black demons climbed into the crypt. They sat at her side much the way dogs would. 

"William?" Spike watched her skeptically. 

"Oh...do you two know each other?" Clem chimed in cheerily. 

"You could say that." He answered cryptically. 

"Popcorn?" The demon offered the bucket to the woman. 

*****

"Are you certain?" Giles asked cleaning his glasses, a concerned expression etched on his face. 

"Yeah, that's the thing." Buffy answered. Faith took one look at the claws on its hand and was absolutely convinced. Alex recognized the face. 

"This was what I feared..." 

"Why?" Buffy asked. "Why the fear?" 

"Well that particular demon, known as the Shakar." The guttural pronunciation of the 'ch' sound suggested the word came from one of the ancient languages. "Its name comes from the Hebrew language meaning simply black, for their unique color. Anyway they are from a race of demons that rather than developing physical strength, developed the power of their minds. Unlike most demons you have encountered they are physically weak..." 

"So why the hell don't we just kick their asses?" Faith asked. She refrained from glaring at Willow, when the witch released an exaggerated sigh. 

"Well...I'm afraid it's not that simple, Faith...these demons surround their enemy and choose a vessel from them. At some point, one of these demons must release some of its own blood into the vessel's stream. This allows the demon a connection to the vessel, in this case Buffy." 

"But that never happened" Buffy interrupted. 

"You would not remember, the vessel must either be asleep or unconscious when the blood is introduced." 

"Fuck...the window." Faith realized. 

"What?" Willow looked at the brunette slayer like she was about to lose it...again. 

"The window in the mansion...it had like a hole fucking cut out of it, just about the size of one of the things." The dark slayer looked to Alex for support. 

"And it just so happens that hole was in the exact room where Buffy was sleeping!" Alex decided against holding her hands up to Faith for a high five. Given the current mood of the members of this room it would probably be deemed as inappropriate. 

"Why would the demon go through the trouble of cutting a hole out of the window...it'd have to have all these tools." Willow interjected. 

"No...its claws are so fucking sharp, probably wouldn't need any." 

"Sharp enough to cut glass?" The red head looked skeptical. 

"You do need heavy duty sharpness for that." Xander added. 

"The thing cut clean through my leather jacket and pretty deep into my side with a fucking swipe...I think that qualifies as heavy duty sharpness." The brunette slayer retorted trying to keep the hostility in her voice to a minimum. 

"Yeah...so," Alex interrupted, rubbing her hands together. Everyone turned to look at her. "Giles?" She passed. 

"Right so through the vessel the demons essentially receive the memories of both the vessel and those surrounding her. However," 

"We all know it's me...you can say Buffy" the blonde slayer was clearly upset. Faith resisted the urge to run a comforting hand up and down her back. Tara noticed the manner in which Faith was looking at Buffy. She couldn't help but think something might be going on with them. 

"Right...Buffy can only send such memories in an advanced state of relaxation." 

"Sleep or unconsciousness" Alex added. "So she can only receive memories from people who are around her while she is sleeping or out?" 

"Quite right. There is a catch however, the demon blood carries a negative emotional charge and thus only allows the most negative memories to be sent." 

"So basically I get a private screening of 'the most painful memories of a person's life'?" Buffy was beside herself, but it was nothing compared to the look on Faith's face. 

"Well, unfortunately yes. However, this is a diversionary tactic. These memories become a part of the demons consciousness and they can essentially make the owner relive them when attacked." 

"Well that is just fucking great" Faith exclaimed. 

"Yes and I'm afraid it is the least of our worries. These demons never act alone. They follow one powerful being, one whose physical strength far surpasses their own and one whose mental strength is equivalent. Whatever they are following, is our true enemy and will prove far more dangerous." 


	8. The First Kiss

**PART 7: The First Kiss**

~Heard anything from the watcher's?~ 

"Nah...but, I'm keeping my eyes peeled, the last thing I need is for those stupid fucks to pop up." 

~So...back to the topic~ the brunette slayer's reluctance was blaringly obvious, even from the distance that separated them. ~What made you decide to spill?~ 

"Shit...I don't know." She sighed heavily. 

~It'll work out, have a little faith.~ 

"Ha ha. yeah, right" Faith looked at the ceiling, from her position on the bed. Holding the phone loosely, she sighed again. "Fucking A, C for fuck sake...I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me, I'm so fucking stupid sometimes." 

~Woah with the fucking.~ 

"Huh?" Faith's eyebrows shot up. 

~Language, Fai, Language!~ 

"Oh shit, sorry," the slayer could almost hear Cordelia's eyes rolling. 

~So what? You just felt like outing yourself?~ 

"No, it wasn't like that C, she asked and I don't know." She took a deep breath. "Y'know forget that, I do know, shit I just...I was...I am so fucking sick of lying and tip toeing around it." 

~What? Did Buffy just ask if you, well you know, were playing for the other team?~ 

"What? Fuck no, C I told B I loved her, not that I was into chicks! And anyway I'm not really that into chicks, I like driving stick, but y'know if a girl's just looking so fuckable." 

~NO, woah, no I don't know. You can stop right there…~ Faith smirked. 

"Sure C." The seer cleared her throat. 

~I know what you ended up telling her, I meant how did the conversation start?~ 

"She asked me why I did what I did and I laid it out for her." 

~Oh, well she told you she felt it too right?~ 

Faith laughed bitterly. "Cute C, cute." 

~What do you mean cute? Not a one of us bought that 'we're just good friends' routine in high school. Puh-lease. That girl was as transparent as humanly possible.~ 

"What the hell are you talking about? Me and B never...anything." 

~You can't be serious!~ 

"Dead serious! Why would you think me and B...she never." 

~No, don't even TRY and tell me that Buffy wasn't interested. Cordelia Chase knows when someone is interested.~ The ex-cheerleader's confident proclamation was met with silence from a stunned Faith. 

"'You made me feel.'" She muttered. 

~What?~ 

"We did this whole we each get to ask each other question, no holds barred." 

~Yeah? ~ 

"I asked her why the hell she was so angry at me and she said...she said 'I made her feel'...I just fucking realized..." 

~Duh! Told you she was interested. What did you think you made her feel? Carsick? The signs were all there.~ Cordelia Chase knew the signs and her confidence was at an all time high. ~So what's stopping you? You could probably take the cake, I mean she hasn't had the best experiences with...~ 

"C, there's a catch." 

~A catch, there's always a catch, like say you find the perfect man but he is from another dimension and then suddenly just when you're about to...~ 

"You're a riot." Faith's voice was amused, but there was an underlying hint of sadness that concerned her friend. 

~Hey, right enough about my love life?~ 

"What love-life?" Faith joked. 

~Ha, screw you, Faith~ Cordelia huffed only half mockingly. 

"Thought you weren't into that?" 

~Deflect, deflect, deflect~ the slayer sighed. ~Come on, something important happened, tell me!~ 

"You know your vision?...well, we found these demons and well they did something to B." 

~Did something?~ There was disgusted empathy in the seer's voice. She was much more sympathetic, having had her own traumatic 'eye growing in the back of your head' experience. 

"Yeah, they...I dunno they made it so she can fucking see other people's memories, like reach inside their heads when she is sleeping." 

~Well that sucks, but why are you so worried?~ 

"She only sees the painful ones." 

~Majorly freaky...and you're afraid that she's seen yours?~ 

"I don't want anyone fucking going inside my mind and" Faith's voice cracked, as it failed her. It was at this point that Cordelia recognized the gravity of this situation. 

Faith viewed the ability Buffy had received as a personal violation of the highest degree. It was something that was happening without her consent and for all intensive purposes against her will. Her pain was being drudged up and shown to someone who would likely be asked to put it on display for all involved in the situation. That was a demonstration of weakness that Faith was entirely petrified and infuriated by. The last thing she wanted in her struggle to overcome her past was to be repeatedly subjected to remembering it. The slayer visualized the looks of pity on the face of each Scooby as Buffy reluctantly painted a picture of a cruel, drunken man and his thin, scared little daughter...it was enough to make her long for the odd-semi-comfort of a prison term. 

~Faith what makes you think she's even seen anything that bad?~ 

"Shit Princess you don't know what it is like to be me, alright ...everything in my life is 'that bad'." The dark slayer spit out defensively. 

~Faith relax, I never said I did.~ 

"Damn C, I'm sorry, I just..." 

~You're a little stressed...understandable, have some tea and listen to pure moods. Helps me. My suggestion? talk to the girl, tell her how uncomfortable you are with her providing the gang with a veritable flow chart of your childhood.~ 

"Yeah, maybe." 

~Hey you never know, maybe after you two do the whole teary 'I'm so sorry' scene, you'll finally do what you've both wanted to do to each other since…~ 

"Yeah, thanks C...um you're like." 

~The bestest friend in the whole wide world?~ Faith could practically feel Cordelia's smile. 

"Yeah, thanks for y'know everything...listening and shit." 

~Eww, the listening I'll take...the shit you can keep~ Faith laughed. 

~Get some sleep Faith....and if you need anything, even though you're little miss tough stuff 'I can do it all my self' Don't hesitate to call!~ 

"Yeah thanks, Night." 

~Night~ Faith hung up the phone, still unnerved by the entire situation. 

*****

Buffy sat at the table in the mansion. She had returned with Faith even though she knew her presence was no longer necessary. Subconsciously, she recognized that it was an effort to remain in close proximity with the brunette. She was slowly building up the courage to announce her newly admitted feelings. However, it was still too soon. 

"Are you all right?" 

"Huh?" The blond slayer turned her head to see Alex with two mugs of tea and a smile. With a look of gratitude, she took the warm liquid. 

"I said are you alright? I mean...the meeting, it was a lot to take in!" She commented sipping her Earl Grey. 

"Yeah, I don't...I guess I don't know what to think." Knowing Buffy had more to say, Alex remained silent. "Everything I saw in my dreams...it happened to, one of you and well, I'm having a little trouble dealing." 

"Not surprising....well what did you see?" 

"I don't think I should..." Buffy answered with a sigh. 

"You're going to have to tell someone." Alex answered. "Giles is going to specially train the two of you with mental discipline exercises, so maybe you'll have a chance against the demons." The blonde sighed. "I was there every time you had an opportunity to see memories, we've got to know what they are gonna throw at us." Buffy half-nodded seeing Alex's point. 

"Fine." She conceded. The slayer closed her eyes remembering exactly what she had been trying to forget for the past few days. 

*****

The vampire lifted her pale, fragile, looking hands to trace the lines of Spike's chiseled features. 

"Hello, luv...what are you doing back?" 

"I came back pet...to see." She touched his head "She's still dancing, dancing all around you." There was hint of anger beneath her lilting tone. Her eyes wandered the room in an almost aimless fashion. "Ms. Edith knew, the stars told her." 

Clem looked on confused and opened his mouth to speak. A look from Spike hushed him. "What did Ms. Edith know luv?" 

"The stars told her, her fairy fire isn't yours, pet." She pulled a long nail down the side of his face. "We came to tell you." Running her hand down the back of his head, she stopped as if she felt something. "Oh my, what have they done to my William?" 

"A chip." 

"She took your magic!" 

He moved his lips to speak, but a nail slid over them. "Shhh." She tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes as if listening to some slight noise. "Mummy, will take care of that nasty old slayer." Her eyes opened and focused on the nothing at the center of the room. "Come my lovelies." The demons followed obediently, as she left. Spike and Clem watched the door, unsure what to think for a few minutes. 

"Bloody crazy vampire bitch." William the Bloody swaggered toward his chair to retrieve a bottle of Jack Daniels. 

"Vampire?" Clem started. "No Spike..." 

"It's always up to Spike to save the slayer isn't it? And where's the bloody gratitude? Tell you what...there isn't any!" 

"Spike I really think you should know." 

"I thought I told you to sod off!" 

"Well ok...but." Clem began in a worried tone. Spike glared, throwing his duster over his shoulders and lighting a cigarette. The demon shook his head and left with concern etched on his face and a bucket of popcorn in his hand. 

*****

"That one is mine." Alex answered, trying not to remember what Buffy had just mentioned. 

"Who was he?" 

"A friend...I mean we were just playing in the yard, the car came out of no where." The young girl attempted to hide just how much the incident still affected her. 

"I know." Buffy answered. "I also saw myself and Faith and you I think." The slayer decided to completely forego mentioning the second vision she had experienced. She was now reasonably sure whom it belonged to and she would cross that bridge when she came to it. 

"Grandma?" Alex was relatively certain what Buffy had seen. The blonde nodded, looking as if she had a question to ask. 

"Is where you come from...is it?" 

"A certainty?" 

"Yeah." The slayer was silently praying. 

"No." Her relief was quite visible. "But it is a possibility" Buffy looked as if she was blinking tears away and Alex understood how painful this realization was for her. 

"How did she?..." 

"She had a brain tumor, Buffy doesn't like to talk about it, but mom told me. The surgery was successful, but after...we just don't know...an aneurysm...it was so sudden." 

"I..." 

"I know Buffy, it's okay....it probably won't happen here. I don't see how the same timeline is possible." Alex stretched the truth a little for the slayer. She recognized how much the young woman was trying to process and how difficult it had to be. 

"We were so...such a family." Buffy changed the subject. 

"Yes we are." Alex agreed. 

"You called me mama." She said wide-eyed. 

"I called my mama, mama." The girl corrected. 

"I meant..." 

"I know...I was just messing with you. I guess I kind of out grew mommy and mama and since only one of you could be mom for sanity's sake...well you know." 

"And she doesn't mind you calling her Buffy?" The blonde wondered. She just couldn't imagine calling her parents by their first name. 

"A little, I still call her mama sometimes cause I know she likes it better." Alex kept to herself the fact that part of the reason she called her 'mama' Buffy, was that she took some unexplainable joy in the anger it caused her. She knew her mother loved it when Buffy got that little angry pout. Neither knew what was so appealing about it. It usually resulted in the silent treatment, which was far less enjoyable. 

"Do you realize the weirdness factor of this whole thing?" 

"What thing?" 

"The fact that I'm sitting in the kitchen with my daughter from an alternate dimension taking about what my alternate dimension self likes to be called." 

"Oh that, it is a little strange now that you mention it" Alex gave a smile that reminded her so much of Faith. "You are ok, right?" 

"About as ok as the permanently traumatized can be." Buffy chided a little too lightly to be completely joking. Alex smiled sadly. 

*****

Faith wandered sleepily into the kitchen. She was exhausted, but her thoughts kept her awake. She was fighting the intense desire to leave the mansion for fear that Buffy might see even more of her private memories. Food was an acceptable distraction. Faith smirked as she found a package of double-stuff Oreos in the cupboard. 

"Thank you Fang!" She twisted the top cookie off and began licking at the filling almost reverently. She was so involved in the enjoyment of her midnight treat that she failed to notice the approaching figure. 

"Faith?" The brunette slayer jumped about a mile, dropping the two other cookies she had waiting for consumption in her hand. 

"Buffy, you scared the shit out of me." Faith caught her breath leaning down to collect her broken Oreos, tossing them mournfully into the trashcan. 

"Sorry" The blond offered, noting that the brunette still seemed unwilling to look her in the face. "Um...Faith, I think we need to talk." 

"'Bout?" The brunette turned her back as she washed the crumbs from her hands. 

"About this." 

"This? That's pretty broad, B." 

"About the fact that you won't look at me, about this awkwardness between?" 

"The 'awkwardness' is nothin' new." She answered drying her hands on a nearby dishtowel. 

"I know, I know that Faith, but I..." Buffy looked at the brunette, whose eyes were still downcast. "Look at me?" With clear reluctance the other slayer obeyed. "I don't want it anymore." She looked in the girl's eyes. "Can we end it?" She took a step closer, still looking into Faith's eyes. "Can we?" A slight nod from Faith was all she needed. Eyes closed and as lips nearly met, the tension that had been coating everything surrounding them seemed to melt into the background. 

'Fucking A, this amazing' Buffy almost smiled at the brunette's awe because she was feeling much the same, that was until she realized it was impossible for the brunette to have spoken with her lips shut and a hair away from hers. The blonde backed off as if spooked, almost pushing Faith away. She looked back and forth quickly, trying to sense the someone or something that was playing with her. Faith, meanwhile was a picture or confusion, sadness, and fear. 

Buffy finally seemed to realize how her behavior must have affected the brunette. "Oh god Faith...I'm sorry." The brunette's face transformed into an expression of hurt disbelief. "Did you hear it?" The blonde asked cautiously. 

"Hear what?" Faith asked and turned her eyes to the side. Buffy tried to relax herself reasoning that she had probably imagined it, imagined whatever it was that had caused her to completely destroy one of her first potentially intimate encounters with the woman she loved. Buffy watched Faith's now stoic expression, lips firmly shut, eyes off to the side. 'Don't fucking play with me B. What the hell was that about? Shit, I hope the demon blood didn't do...' 

As the panic filled her, the voice faded. Buffy's eyes widened with the realization that she was hearing the brunette's thoughts. Faith noted the almost terrified expression on Buffy's face and any concerns about what they had almost just shared fell away. "B, what's up?" 

"I can...hear you thinking." The brunette merely blinked, standing still. The blond slayer looked at Faith having absolutely no idea whatsoever to say to her. "Faith?" 

When the girl finally collected herself enough to voice how she was feeling, it came out in a single word "No." 

Buffy looked at Faith and she was filled with an almost incontrollable feeling akin to an anxiety attack. The brunette was shaking her head and moving away from her. 

"Faith, don't leave, please!" She ignored her and Buffy grabbed her sleeve as she attempted to leave. 

"Let me go!" The blonde slayer thought she heard tears clouding the brunette's voice and was swamped by an intense desire to hold her, and try and sooth her pain. 

"Faith, please talk to me." 

"There's nothing to talk about, god damn it!" Faith tugged her arm trying to release Buffy's grip on her. "Please...fuck, B! Just let me go, please, I need to go." Her tone was a strange mixture of agony and anger. 

"Don't run away from this." 

"Run away from what?" 

"I know what he did to you Faith." The brunette stopped pulling and turned to look at Buffy. She could no longer hold in what she had been feeling since the meeting this afternoon. Faith was about to explode. "Please talk to me about this, you know we need to..." 

"What the fuck did you see?" 

"I saw what he did to you," Faith's eyes lit with barely restrained fury. 

"There is nothing to talk about." 

"Faith I know you're hurting." 

"No, Buffy you don't know shit about it and it's none of your god damn business anyway." She nearly screamed. "What happened to me...", she let out an angry sigh "Not only are my memories open to you, know I can't fucking think without you knowing what is going on, I just want you the fuck out of my head. Now...let...me...go!" Faith spat out through clenched teeth. 

"Faith, please, I'm sorry, but maybe I can..." 

"What help?" The brunette was incredulous. "Buffy, you don't get! There is nothing that is gonna make that better for me, nothing will ever make what happened ok. Not talking, not sharing, not your friendship, and not your fucking pity. Nothing, don't fucking try to help, you can't. You can't." Faith had tears of pain and anger streaming down her cheeks as she said this. Looking at Buffy almost pleadingly, she finished. "Now please, let me go." 

"I...Faith don't run away from me." The blonde managed through her own tears. "Please? Stay, we don't have to talk, just stay." She pleaded. Faith looked up at the ceiling, breathing in deeply and wiping agitatedly at the tears of anger on her cheeks. 

"Why? Why do you want me to stay so fucking badly B?" 

"I need you." 

"What?" She looked at the blonde with teary chocolate brown eyes. 

"I need you, I can't..." She took a deep breath. "Faith, I can't sleep, I just see those things over and over, and you're..." The brunette took a step closer to Buffy. "You make me feel, god...I don't know, safe...Faith, I.." 

"You what, B?" Faith felt her anger and fear fall away with Buffy's tears. 

"I love you." It was barely more than a whisper, but the dark slayer heard it loud and clear. "God, I love you so much, Faith and I'm so sorry about this, but it isn't my fault, Faith, the things I saw, what he did...I'm just so..." Buffy's ramblings were silenced by the action of Faith's lips. The other slayer's arms wrapped around the still teary blond, as she kissed her with a passion and tenderness that made Buffy weak in the knees. The older girl's eyes slid closed as she responded to the kiss with all the emotion she could muster. 

*****

Faith stalked through the graveyard deep in thought. She couldn't think of anything but the feeling of Buffy's soft lips on hers and every time that thought flew to her, a small smile graced her features. The blonde had been so tired after their kiss. She had wanted to talk to brunette and they had moved to the couch to do so. However, Buffy was still greatly troubled by the confirmation that girl in her vision was indeed Faith. Her tears had not been exhausted. The brunette guessed that it was probably a culmination of all the things that had occurred recently causing the cascade of tears. She had merely pushed her own problems aside and held Buffy while she cried, trying to be comforting but really not sure how. They kissed again softly before the mentally and physically exhausted slayer fell asleep on the couch. Faith was still uncomfortable with Buffy seeing her past, not to mention reading her mind, and decided to patrol. Not before covering the sleeping girl with a blanket and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. 

This wasn't her. Faith did not hold people while they cried, or kiss them softly, or get strange little warm feeling when a certain slayer smiled in that cute little way of hers. Did she? Apparently the answer was a disturbing but unquestionable yes. She had known she was in love with Buffy, she had for quite awhile now. Strangely enough, the brunette had never seriously considered what it would be like to have the other slayer return her feelings until this day. It was unbelievably different than the normalcy that was unrequited love. Faith became so lost in her thoughts that she ran dead on into a member of the undead. He had been carrying a box, the contents of which were now scattered around on the wilting grass. 

"Bloody hell! Watch where you goin' aye?" The man spoke around a cigarette, as he knelt to pick up the contents of a box. 

"You'd be shit out of luck if I was in a killin' mood vampy" Faith's eyes widened as she recognized the bleach blond vampire. "Well Fuck me, if it isn't William the bloody." 

"Sod it all. Slayer?" He looked up, a bit concerned. Not his slayer, this was the psycho one. "Thought you were always in a killing mood. Now, I don't want any trouble." 

Faith smirked, kneeling to help him pick up his stuff. She grabbed two items before he refuse her assistance. Inspecting them, she gave him a look, which was a mixture of revulsion and bemusement. "Found a new way to get your kicks chip boy?" She handed him the halter top and long blonde wig. Before Spike could speak out in his defense, another creature of the night made his presence known. A tall, dark, and rather ugly man stepped out from behind a mausoleum in a particularly over-dramatic fashion. Two of the black demons sat rigid at his side. "Faith-y." The tone and the voice itself were frighteningly familiar to the brunette. The slayer's jaw would have fallen to the ground if it could have and the sheer terror in her eyes was enough to be Spike on edge. 

"...Daddy?" 


	9. Two Times the Trouble

**PART 8: Two times the Trouble**

In this chapter, we will be seeing Alex's dimension also. For the sake of sanity, sections dealing with this dimension will be marked like so (A). 

(A)

"You think she's doing alright?" 

"You worried baby?" The brunette scooted closer to her lover, holding her in a spooning position. 

"A bit, I mean she's never even left the state, let alone the dimension." The woman was clearly nervous. 

"Yeah, but she's a smart girl B, she can take care of herself." Buffy turned around in Faith's arms. 

"You're not nervous at all?" 

"'Course I'm nervous, she's my daughter too, but 'this is what must be done'." She answered, mimicking the words of their PTB contact. 

"Yeah, I guess." 

With a decidedly mischievous grin, Faith added. "'Sides she's with me, how much trouble could she get into?" 

The blonde's eyes practically rolled out of her head, as she mock-poked her lover's belly. "Duh, that's why I'm worried in the first place! Remember you at that age?" 

"Yeah, damn I was hot!" Buffy snorted, which earned her a raised brow. "What? Go ahead B, try and deny it!" The sparkle in Faith's eyes, let her wife know she was just kidding. 

"Yeah you were hot, still are!" She conceded, kissing her. "And you were cocky as hell, and what a surprise! You're still that too!" She giggled, which made the brunette smirk. They laid in comfortable silence, until a high-pitched whine from down the hall caught Faith's attention. 

"The baby's awake!" Buffy rolled her eyes. 

"You go take care of it, you're the one who wanted it so bad!" 

"IT is a he, Buffy." She corrected, hopping out of bed and padding naked down the hallway. Minutes later she returned cradling the small form in her arms and gazing warmly at it. Buffy had to smile at the picture, until the brunette made a move for the bed. 

"Absolutely not Faith, not on the bed." 

"C'mon B, how can you be so cruel! Just look at him!" 

The blonde glared. "I said. No!" 

"Just hold him!" 

"No Faith, put it…" Her lover glared back. "HIM…back, not in this room!" 

"How can you treat a member of the family like that B?" 

"The dog is not a member of the family. The dog is a family pet!" Faith covered the puppy's floppy little ears, as she baby-talked it. 

"She did not just call you the P-word, no she didn't! We don't have to listen to her." She kissed the puppy's head. Buffy fumed as Faith took a seat on the bed. The brunette responded by smiling at her and kissing her pout. 

"This is not kissable face, Faith! This is angry face" She pointed. "See, anger! Narrowed eyes and stuff!" 

"You're too cute, B!" The blonde started getting huffy. "C'mon B, just hold him, he's your grand puppy!" 

"Grand puppy?" The smaller woman was exasperated, as she took the sleepy little animal. "Oh god, Faith you're getting worse! I swear if you turn into one of those people who cooks their dogs meals and feed them in specialty bowls…I mean what's next? You gonna start buying it clothes?" Buffy laughed, but stopped abruptly when she saw Faith turn away. "No…you didn't, Faith tell me you didn't?" 

"Well I saw this little biker jacket, when I was picking up a teething bone for the little guy, and then I saw these chaps and a little cap and well…" 

"You are NOT taking the dog out with those things on him, please promise you won't…" The blonde was quite upset. 

"Chill B, I was just messing with you huh? You didn't have to get all 'what will the neighbors think' on me. Since when have we ever cared about that?" The blond half-nodded, while Faith continued laughing a bit. "I mean remember the time Mrs. J caught you…" Buffy hit her lover in the stomach. "Ooph! Hey!" 

"That was not funny!" She softened as she realized the puppy was asleep. "Well, I guess he can stay for a bit…so you really think she's ok?" 

"I'm sure she is, B." She answered, leaning over to kiss her forehead. As they settled down together the doorbell sounded. 

"Who could that be?" The blond asked, Faith shrugged in response and trudged over to the intercom near the bedroom door, switching it on. 

"Yeah?" 

"Hey sweet thing, remember me?" The blond glared at the speaker, she hated when he called her Faith that. 

"Oh hey, what's up?" 

"Got some important stuff to share." The nervousness in his voice was unusual and a bit unsettling. 

"Alright, I'll buzz you in, we'll be down in two shakes." 

"Ok then, sweet thing." Releasing the switch, the brunette turned to look at her wife. 

"What's with the pout, baby?" 

"I hate it when he calls you that!" Faith smirked. 

"C'mon we gotta throw some clothes on." Buffy mumbled her response slowly going to the closet and picking something out. Having put the puppy back in his room, soon the slayers were dressed and making their way down the staircase into the entrance hall. 

"Good morning ladies." He greeted them with a forced smile, removing his hat. 

"What's up, Willie?" The blond asked mildly concerned by his behavior. 

"He he… Funny you would ask that cause a…" The contact rubbed the back of his neck and restlessly fiddled with his hat. 

"Cause what?" The brunette's tone was a bit harsh. 

"Well, ladies I'll be frank, it appears I made a fluke of cosmic proportions." 

"What are you saying?" Both slayers stepped dangerously close to him. 

"Well that…a…" He swallowed, and then rushed out the words. "Sending your daughter into an alternate dimension was definitely the worst advice I've ever given and is most likely going to end her life? Ah ha…" 

*****

"Daddy?" Spike questioned in utter confusion, looking at the figure. 

Faith made no discernable response to the bleach blond vampire. Her eyes were fixed on the quickly approaching demon. 

"Did you miss me girl?" The slayer's eyes widened as the tremors built within her. Violently shaking hands, were immediately concealed in her leather coat. 

Shaking her head slightly from side to side, the brunette murmured as if trying to convince herself. "No, this is not possible." 

"Oh it is Faith-y it is, you and me, we got some catching up to do!" 

"NO…fuck this NO, you're…" 

"I'm what? Dead…?" The man's laugh echoed unnaturally through the suddenly thick air. The slayer stood stock still. 

Spike was lost in a stupor. The bleach blonde tilted his head from side to side, leering at the figure as if looking at a piece of abstract art. "What the… bleeding Christ…" 

"I was never dead Faith-y, you could never forget about me, because deep down we both know…" He leaned closer and whispered, sliding his hand over her chest and licking her ear. Faith squeezed her eyes shut, face contorted in fear. 

"No…." 

"You wanted…" The voice abruptly stopped and Faith's eyes shot open. She was met with the smiling face of Alex. 

"Some guys can't take the hint huh?" She kicked the figure, which was now lying on the ground watching both of them. "NO means no, huh! get out of here." 

A growl echoed as he picked himself up, dusting off and snapping in the direction of the two demons who obediently came to his side. "Later Faith-y." His twisted smile and tone of voice, caused the hairs on both girls' neck to stand up. "I could kill you now, and your friend…but, I think we all need to find the fun." He walked off, disappearing almost immediately into the blackness. 

"Who the hell was that? WHAT the hell was that?" Alex asked, beyond freaked out. 

"I…what?" The young girl notice how completely shaken the brunette appeared, followed by the observation that there was a vampire standing close to them looking much like a puzzled statue. She chose to ignore him for a moment. 

"Faith? You ok?" 

"What? Oh…Yeah I…I'm fine." She shook her head a bit and rubbed her eyes. "I'm fine." 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah, I'm good." 

"…Ok." The girl wasn't entirely convinced, but nonetheless walked over to the vampire clutching her stake. She waved her hand in front of his face. "Yo' Vampy!" 

"Get your bloody mitts out of there." He replied, shoving her hands to the side. 

"What crawled up his ass?" Another voice replied from near Faith. 

"Hello, love." The vampire smiled at Buffy, in a way that made the brunette slayer's arm wind almost reflexively around the blonde. Spike's hurt expression appeared so briefly that it went unnoticed by two of the three people present. "Love to stay and chat, but places to be." With that he grabbed his box and sauntered off. 

The brunette cleared her throat, confused and having a great deal of difficulty wrapping her mind around a thought succinct enough to vocalize. "What are you two doing out here?" 

"I followed you" Alex replied casually. Noticing the glare it earned her she added "What? I was bored, there was nothing to do, I thought maybe you'd find a baddie! How right was I?" 

Faith looked to Buffy, her voice softening a bit "I thought you were sleeping." 

"Alex tripped over the coffee table, she must get her grace from you." The blonde smiled warmly standing very close to the brunette, causing her to blush a bit. Alex found the situation intriguing. "I followed her." 

The blonde noticed Faith's uneasiness and stepped back a bit, interpreting it as discomfort with the two of them as a couple. Observing that the younger girl had suddenly become ridiculously pale, the blond reconsidered her initial conclusion. 

"You okay Faith?" Alex and Buffy voiced in unison. As if in answer to their question, the brunette's stomach suddenly rejected her dinner. 

*****

(A)

"WOAH!!!!!!!" The contact let lose a rather feminine yelp as he found himself hoisted up and slammed against the nearest wall. He stared down into the fire-filled eyes of an angry blond. Turning to the brunette he found an expression remarkably similar to the one he was trying to evade. "Ladies…let's be reasonable…" He began, his voice cracking as he flinched away from a drawn back fist. 

"Reasonable?" Buffy was incredulous. "Reasonable is what comes before you give my daughter a death sentence." Closing his eyes, he tensed for a blow that never arrived. Just lifting his left lid, he saw Faith's hand holding the fist back and felt himself being lowered. 

"B, kill him after we find out if we can do anything." The elder slayer begrudgingly nodded, releasing his now wrinkled shirt from her grip. Straightening his seam, he said something unbelievably and inexcusably stupid. 

"You tell her sweet thing!" He was obviously leering at the woman. 

"That is it!" No sooner had the words left her mouth than her fist made contact with the left side of the foolish contact's face. 

*****

The man sat busily working on his laptop at the desk. His hair was uncharacteristically disheveled as was his clothing and his glasses were perched slightly askew atop his nose. He pounded at the keys, his face a picture of desperation. Less than patiently waiting for a page to load, he leafed through a rather thick stack of folders and documents. 

"Hello…what have we here?" He picked up a sheet of paper that seemed surprisingly promising. The near permanent wrinkles that had formed at the corners of his mouth began to fade slightly and his eyes brightened with sudden success. Breathing a sigh of relief, he began to busily jot down bits and pieces of information. He flipped the paper and was further surprised to find more relevant data on the back. Scanning through it, he found what he had been searching for; a name and an address. Folding the piece of paper, he placed it by his bedside table. He climbed into the crisply made hotel bed and turned off the beside lamp. He smiled tightly, finally feeling as though he could sleep. Before he fell into slumber, he repeated the name of the man that had lifted a colossal weight off his stooping shoulders. 

"Thank you Mr. Rupert Giles." 

*****

"So how's it coming with the ole research-a-roo?" Xander asked plopping into a chair and snatching a donut. 

"Might have gone better if you hadn't weaseled out of it last night." Willow commented lightly giving him a poke, and grabbing a donut for herself and Tara. Giles had asked the team, with the exception of the slayers and Alex, to join him in an attempt to find some promising leads. 

"I had prior commitments!" 

"With your TV?" Willow asked smiling at him. 

"My one true love." He responded dreamily. Alex laughed, just like the Xander in her world. 

The tired watcher cleared his throat "…it appears that there are more candidates for the leader of the Shakar than I anticipated, although with more research and Willow's help I believe that the field can be sufficiently narrowed," he paused. "Have you had anymore encounters with the demons?" 

"Yeah, last night." Alex chimed in. "Some weird guy with no face had two of him with him." 

"No face?" Faith asked incredulously. 

"Yeah, the weirdo in the graveyard? He had no face." Alex answered tossing a piece of donut in the air and catching it in her mouth. 

"Could you elaborate?" Giles inquired. 

"Sure, it was like…um…hollow blackness I guess, but images kind of flickered across it, like a…projector screen I guess, didn't get that good a look…weird voice too, couldn't really tell if it was a guy or a not." 

"Odd, is that what you saw also Faith?" 

The brunette looked completely confused. "Um...yeah, sounds right." 

"You should find the vamp that was there, he got a good look." 

"Vampire?" 

"Yeah, he looked remarkably like Billy Idol.." 

"Spike." Buffy confirmed. 

"Willow, I believe Faith and Alex have given us something to go on." 

"Yup." The red-head confirmed looking at the pair of brunettes, as she turned on her laptop. Alex smirked at her and Faith seemed not to notice the glance at all. The other slayer looked truly troubled. Tara seemed to have picked up on this too. Regardless of her feelings for the girl, they both knew that something had happened and that whatever it was had truly and deeply upset her. The two witches exchanged glances, knowing that such a distraction could be deadly for Faith, she need a clear mind to defeat what lie ahead. Willow hated not being able to tell Buffy, Faith, or even Alex what they had all learned last night. A prophesy; the wiccan was starting to develop a definite dislike for them. 

Buffy watched Faith from across the table at the Magic Box. The brunette had been non-vocal after they had returned from the graveyard. She had attributed the other slayer's silence to her apparent illness, but was now convinced there was more to it than a simple upset stomach. The blond was so overwhelmed with everything, her budding relationship with Faith, her visions, the enemy, her friends finding out about her and Faith, her MOM finding about her and Faith, and on top of all that Alex kept shooting her these annoying little knowing glances. She was so focused on her jumbled thoughts, that it was impossible for her to focus on what her watcher was saying. 

"…begin Faith?" 

"Sure thing G-man." The comment was delivered without the accompanying smirk, which only served to increase Buffy's level of concern. 

"Buffy?" 

"Huh?" Giles removed his glasses, and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. 

"Would you be so kind as to join us for training?" 

"Oh sure, I'm game." 

The two slayers followed him into the backroom where an array of new and exciting toys had been set up for their new training regiments. 

"What's this?" The blonde asked picking up a glass ball and tossing it up and catching it. 

"That," he took the sphere from her, "is an orb, it is especially susceptible to magic" Giles chanted something and the girls watched as it floated. "As slayers, your enhanced senses should allow you to feel its presence, even without the benefit of sight." The watcher finished producing two silk handkerchiefs from his trouser pocket. "Put these on." 

The blonde commented. "You stole this right outta star wars." 

The watcher look surprised. "This is one of the oldest watcher slayer exercises …It was in fact the trilogy that took it from us!" 

"Sure sure." 

Faith laughed just a bit, which made her counterpart feel better. The brunette came over to Buffy and took a handkerchief from her hand. Folding it, she slid it gently over the other girl's eyes. 

"Not too tight?" 

"Nope." The elder slayer answered, as she felt her friend's hands linger in her hair just a bit longer than necessary. She smiled. Faith folded the second and tied it around her head. 

"Now concentrate, clear your mind." 

"Yes Obi Wan." 

"Buffy, this is quite serious." He was exasperated. 

"Sorry." 

"Now block!" 

"Block?" She inquired as she was hit in the arm by the sphere. "Hey ouch." 

"B, c'mon, we gotta do this huh? Gotta be ready." 

"Ok." The blonde conceded, worried by the steely determination in the other woman's voice. She could hear the orb colliding with Faith's body, but she heard no sounds of pain. Something had happened last night, she was sure of it now. She tried to remember any details that might have escaped her. "Ouch." She was hit directly in the stomach by the orb. 

"Focus! Buffy! Don't think, just act!" Giles was impressed by how well Faith was doing. She had missed a few, but seemed to be far more comfortable acting on instinct than his slayer. Although, now that he considered this, it did not come as much of a surprise. 

*****

(A)

"You know, sometimes your stupidity surprises even me!" Faith commented pressing a cold pack to Willie's now swollen eye. Had it not been for his injury she would have added a slap upside the head. 

"Hey be gentle now sweet thi……" He was stopped cold by Buffy's glare. She sat watching, leaning against a wall in the kitchen. 

"What do we do?" 

"What do you mean?" The contact asked, still wary of the blond slayer. 

"How do we clean up the colossal mess you made?" 

"Oh that…well, the thing is…" 

"Is what?" If a tone of voice could kill, he would be dead three times over. 

"I don't exactly know, precious." He winced backwards preparing himself for another attack. 

Faith breathed out a sigh of frustration and let lose. "Our daughter might be dying because of you and you're gonna sit there and tell me you don't know what to do? WELL GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE AND FIND OUT!!" She pounded her fist on the marble counter tops. His eyes opened wide. The brunette had always been fiery, but had never yelled at him. She had matured a bit over the years learning to control her temper, but it still surfaced now and again. Its intensity and raw anger struck fear into him like nothing the spunky little blond had ever done. He flew out of the house, before what little luck he had left ran out. Faith closed her eyes and breathed deeply, feeling her lover's arms run soothingly down her arms and back. 

"We should call Red and Tara." She felt Buffy nod against her shoulder and move away to retrieve the phone. 

"Hey Wills." 

~What's up?~ 

"…we've got a problem." 

*****

Buffy landed flat on her ass, and glared at the now untied lace of her sneaker. She ripped them off her feet, opting to continue bare foot. Faith followed suit laughing, and reached down to the blond… who quickly swept the brunette's feet out from underneath her. It was clearly unexpected and resulted in one girl landing full onto the other. They stared at each other nose to nose. 

"Ha…got you!" Buffy was surprised to see a blush creep onto the cheeks and ears of her sparring partner. 

Giles voice broke them out of their daze. "Excellent counter Buffy, but I'm afraid that knocking a demon on top of you might not be beneficial in a true fighting scenario." The dark slayer quickly lifted herself off the other girl and they resumed their sparring. The watcher focused on them intently. It was quite obvious who was winning now. 

"You must learn to anticipate her moves Faith, as if she were the orb, feel where she is going to, and move to stop the blow, don't wait for the visual cues." Buffy landed another blow. "Stop." Both slayers dropped their hands. "Faith, you must concentrate if you wish to defeat your enemy. Whatever thoughts or worries you have must be forgotten. Do you understand?" 

"Yeah." 

"Come here." She stepped forward and was surprised when he retied the blindfold around her eyes. "Your vision is having an adverse affect, now clear your mind. Breathe." 

Buffy watched to the side, Giles seemed far more serious about this than normal. She couldn't help feeling as though she had not been told all there was to know. She felt that both Faith and Giles were keeping something from her, something important. She watches as Giles threw punches at the girl, the first of which landed hard, but not one after successfully made contact. 

"Buffy, go." 

"What?" She had no idea what he meant. 

"Spar." 

"But, she's still blindfolded." 

"Yes, spar and don't talk, I want her to act on feeling alone." Buffy looked at him questioningly, and shrugged. She threw a light cross at Faith which the girl blocked, sufficiently impressing her. The blond increased the intensity and her girlfriend deflected each shot remarkably well, so well in fact that she threw in some tricks, which were just as solidly blocked. The dance continued for a good long while, Faith never countering or going on the offensive, simply blocking and dodging. Buffy threw a final punch which was unfortunately blocked in just such a way as to send shooting bits of pain up through the brunette's injured wrist. 

"Ahh, fuck." She whipped her hand back, shaking her wrist loosely. "Damn it." 

As he took the girls forearm, Giles was surprised at the damage visible to the naked eye. "What happened?" 

"Jail fight." 

"This must be strengthened, we cannot have you weak." He was far more concerned than Buffy would have thought, something was going on. Something she wanted to be let in on. One question resonated in her mind. Why was he focusing so intently on Faith's training? 

*****

The brunette slayer tossed her jacket onto the couch and slid into it, watching the flames lap at a log the blond had just added. Buffy watched the orange glow flickering across the dark eyes of the other girl. 

"Faith?" 

"Yeah, B?" She looked up, the expression of deep concentration leaving her beautiful face. 

"What happened last night?" 

"What do you mean?" The dark slayer straightened up. 

"Who did you see?" 

"I…" The blonde stepped closer. 

"You can trust me Faith, I believe you, whatever it is, don't be afraid to tell me…just trust me." 

The brunette swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat and closed her eyes, before softly speaking. "I saw him, B." 

"Him?" A glance into the other girl's eyes was all she needed. "Oh god, Faith." She was at a loss for what to do. "I…god, are you sure?" 

"I don't…I thought, yeah…but, Alex said he had no…no face, B I…" Buffy did the only thing she could think of. She slid behind Faith on the couch and took the girl in her arms, kissing the top of her head. The blonde was surprised both by the lack of tears and the willingness with which Faith accepted her comfort. "B, I want to…" 

"To what?" Buffy's heart beat a bit faster as her mind raced with the possible completions of that thought. 

"I need to…tell you some things…about me, I've never told…" her voice was so uncertain. She seemed almost angry with herself for the difficulty she had getting that sentence out. 

"Ok." The older girl stroked her fingers through Faith's hair listening with pains of sympathy and with silent acceptance as the girl she loved opened herself completely. 


	10. Blessings and Burdens

**PART 9: Blessings and Burdens**

**Author's Notes:** A special thanks to those who continue to send me feedback and to those who read my story in silence. I've gotten some amazing feedback and I just wanted to extend my sincere gratitude. It appears that everything is getting frighteningly close to coming together... 

"I'm…" 

"What is it?" The girl appeared well and truly frightened and the elder slayer could feel small nervous tremors ticking through her body. "Faith?" 

"…B, I think I'm losing it." 

"What?" Buffy was surprised. 

"I'm losing my mind." 

"What makes you think that Faith??" 

"I'm seeing him." 

"Well…maybe your mind was just playing a trick…maybe the guy just looked like him, and Alex could be wrong, maybe he is back Faith." She rationalized. 

"No." 

"Why not?" 

"He's dead B, and the guy talked…" She took a breath. "He talked just like him, said everything he would say, I heard it, clearly…but, it can't." Looking into the other girl's eyes, she repeated. "He's dead, I fucking saw him die." 

"I…" 

"My mom…" 

Buffy caught her voice again. "Yeah?" 

"She went crazy, B…she was so normal and then…" 

"Then what…?" Buffy whispered, the girl seemed unable to go on, stopping and starting, stutters lacing her sentence with frustrated sighs serving as a sort of punctuation. The blonde felt for her and tried her best to look inviting. Faith abruptly sat up. She looked curious and appeared to want to ask something, but did not voice it. It was almost as though an idea suddenly struck her. She took the blonde's hands in hers. 

"Relax." The dark slayer commanded. 

"I…huh?" 

"Please?" 

"Faith what is this about??" 

"I…think I know how it works." 

"Again with the huh??" 

"Advanced state of relaxation." 

"Yes…and huh?" Faith rolled her eyes, still upset about her whole situation. 

"I can't…B, it's so hard for…fuck." Another deep breath. "What I can't tell you…B, I think I could show you." Her voice tapered off, far quieter toward the end. 

"Oh." 

"If you're ok with…uh…seeing all that shit." The brunette looked down. 

Buffy lifted her chin and nodded adding a sweet kiss to cement her affirmation. Faith's eyes opened a bit wider at the kiss, and she again blushed slightly, much to her own embarrassment. Closing her eyes, the slayer breathed in as deeply as her lungs would allow. She settled into an almost meditative state and Faith soon followed, recalling events that were too difficult for her to vocalize. 

*****

Little feet padded noiselessly across a worn rug, curiosity having driven them from their room. She followed the sounds of clanks and clattering to the now ill-kept kitchen. Her tiny head peered unnoticed round the doorpost. 

"Mommy?" A frazzled woman with bloodshot eyes and a rather skittish air leered from behind the cabinet door where she was desperately rummaging. In her free hand she held a steaming mug. 

"I know they're here…I've just got…where…" As she turned to face the child, a small amount of hot liquid sloshed out of her cup and hit the peeling linoleum. It was clear, indicating the half-opened instant coffee bag laying on the counter was unused. 

"Who's here mommy?" 

"Shhh!" The woman's glared at the child and slipped her finger against her lips, gesturing for the girl to come closer. The girl did so, with obvious hesitance. Turned the girl round in her arms, she inspected ever inch of her, twisting her body this way and that, looking in her hair. "They could be on you…my little firecracker, that's just where they'd go…" 

"Mommy?" The girl questioned, fear welling inside her. The woman lifted the child's shirt, and was apparently disgusted at finding a dark birthmark resting on the left lower side of the child's back. Before the girl could react, her mother threw the scalding hot liquid onto the small of her back. The girl screeched in pain as the boiling liquid burnt her skin raw and continue to scorch its way down her back and legs. 

"WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL THIS NOISE??" He roared as he stumbled into the kitchen, clad in his typical wife-beater and boxer shorts. The dark stains on his shirt caused the woman to reach back for the tea kettle. 

"They're everywhere." She cried opening the lid and tossing the steaming water at his chest, in an attempt to kill whatever her sickness had caused her to believe was there. His howl mixed with that of his daughter as he flew backward. The startled woman dropped the tea kettle. 

"Fucking BITCH." Recovering just enough he charged into the kitchen, shoving the pained child to the ground. The woman reeled backward, quite obviously fearful. The man reached down, scooping the hot kettle up by the handle. "Stupid bitch" The hot kettle landed flatly across her face, searing along with its impact. She screamed as he beat her with it, yelling at her, cursing with each blow. 

The girl watched in horror as blood spattered, trickled, and flew from the bottom of the kettle. The sounds of bone crushing, the silence beyond that. A quiet tear ran down her cheek. Turning, his shirt and face a blanket or deep red, the kettle still held loosely bits clinging to it, he looked every bit the monster she remembered. He wiped his hand across his face and flicked it to dry, splatter spread across the counter. Looking at his work and an unreadable expression crossed his face, perhaps confusion. The sullied tea pot feel to the floor, as his eyes met the child's. No words, for quite some time, until the expression fell replaced with one of anger. He hauled the girl up by her shirt and tossing her toward the barely recognizable form of her mother. 

"LOOK!" Tears of angers streaming down his face, mingling with blood residue, hitting the floor in pinkish drops. "LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!" He grabbed the girl again, pulling her crying, scared form out of the room… 

*****

Faith pulled away at this point, emotionally exhausted. She turned her head in hopes that her dark eyes would not meet Buffy's. The blond was horrified. The experience could be likened to watching a horror film, without the comfort that it was in fact just a film. Real monsters, human monsters. Wounds far worse, far more disturbing and sickening than she had ever seen in her years of slaying. The little girl, the tormented, scared, abused little girl, was now a woman, a woman who had stolen her heart, a heart which was now breaking for that very same girl. The elder slayer sat silently contemplating, her eyes still closed, un-dried tears still fresh on her cheeks, her brow furrowed. She felt honestly ashamed that she could ever dismiss Faith as she had in the past, that any of them could have. How she could look at her as the grossly simplified bad girl she had at their first meeting was beyond her. Faith's plethora of defense mechanisms was not so surprising now. It was a wonder she interacted socially at all. So many mistakes, so much unnecessary pain, so much wasted time, so many misgivings. It was time for that end. She opened her eyes, unhappily surprised at finding herself alone on the couch. 

Buffy searched the mansion, checking Faith's room first, finding nothing, no one except Alex fast asleep in the guest bedroom. She checked the kitchen, each floor, the balcony, all were empty. She resisted the urge to call the brunette's name. The blond was justifiably fearful that younger woman had taken off. But the night breeze, and the presence of her leather jacket untouched on the couch, said otherwise. As she stood, her bare feet chilling on the concrete floor, she questioned herself. 

"Where is she?" As if in answer, pipes just behind the wall creaked and groaned loudly. She smiled, she had forgotten to check the bathroom. The faint sounds of running water from downstairs confirmed her suspicions. She followed it straight to the shower, where it was mixing with another sound that made the blonde girl's heart wrench. Almost uncertain, she stepped closer to the shower, the sound growing louder with each step, more definite. She could see Faith's silhouette through the frosted glass, steam, and dim lighting, crouched in the corner of the stall, shaking. Without a second thought, she grabbed a towel and reached into the stall turning off the practically scalding water. She was unsure as to whether the girl would let her touch her, so opted to speak instead. 

"Faith?" The brunette looked up with so much pain it broke Buffy's heart. The blonde reached out and softly brushed a stray tear from her cheek, cupping it. Faith's eyes closed and she leaned in to the other girl's hand, leaving no doubt as to whether or not she would accept the other woman's comfort. More tears slipped from beneath her lids, cascading down her cheeks and over Buffy's hand. She began shaking again, as the other girl wrapped the fluffy towel round her wet body. It had been heated a small degree by the enormous amount of hot steam that had poured over the stall, but its warmth offered little comfort. Not compared to the arms that were now securely round her, lifting her, taking her to a soft bed, and holding her, soothing her. For the first time since Los Angeles years ago, Faith let her sorrow and her pain overtake her and she cried, letting the sobs wrack her body and the tears flow freely. 

*****

A sharp rap at the door jarred the middle-aged man from his reading. Taking off his glasses and adjusting his robe, he walked to the front entrance way. 

"Hello?" He opened the door wide in his usual way. 

The man checked a piece of paper that rested in the palm of his hand. "Are you Mr. Rupert Giles?" 

"Yes," he answered hesitantly. "Can I help you in some way?" The man's suit and English accent put him on alert. The watcher was honestly having trouble believing that the council would be so foolish as to send another one of their own. Angel had called earlier, alerting him that an agent might be on his way, that he was searching for her. 

"I'm looking for a girl, a slayer more specifically." 

"Oh?" He looked concerned. 

"Faith Ryan, perhaps you've heard of her? Better yet sir, do you know where it is that I can find her? It is absolutely imperative I speak with her!" 

The desperateness in his tone was somewhat off-putting, yet at the same time instilled in him a desire to help. 

"What do want with her?" 

"I'm afraid that I cannot reveal that to you." He seemed to honestly regret that fact. 

"She's gone, she left here years ago." He attempted to shut the door. 

"Please, Mr. Giles, please, if nothing else tell her that I must speak with her on a most pressing matter." 

"Your name?" 

"Although I doubt she would recall, my name is Ewan Hendrik and I was an employee of the late Ms. Marguerite Thornstrom, whom was affectionately known to her as Maggie. Will you at least drop the name?" He reached into his pocket, producing a business card and handing it to the watcher. "I would be forever in your debt, I can be reached here." 

With an almost imperceptible nod, he took it and quietly closed the door. Looking down at the small card in his hand, confusion welled up inside him mixing with his skepticism. "A lawyer?" 

*****

Faith dug her hands deeper into the pockets of her leather jacket, trying to combat the unusual briskness of the evening. She turned to smile at the woman standing beside her, nestled in a wool pea coat, her neck receding into a tightly wrapped scarf. They were waiting outside a beautiful home, having already rang the doorbell. 

"Come on Wills." The other woman mumbled impatiently shifting from foot to foot. "Even my nose is cold." 

The brunette smiled at her. "Pink suits you baby." Buffy grumbled a bit more trying to sink deeper into her oversized scarf. Faith smiled and leaned forward, planting a warm kiss on the other woman's chilled nose. The blonde smiled at her lover and turned, kissing her full on the lips just as the door opened. When the contact between them ceased, they were met with the wide smiles of two wiccans. The slayers smiled just a bit embarrassed at being caught, and stepped inside. 

"So what did you find for us Red?" Faith asked hanging up both her and Buffy's coats on the rack beside the door. She smacked her hands together, rubbing them a bit to try and warm them as she took a seat on the couch next to her wife. 

"Um…Faith there are a couple things we could try." Tara answered, slipping her hand into Willow's. "Some are a little more risky than others." 

"Let's hear 'em." It was clear that the blonde was in let's get down to business-mode. 

"Right, well…the first thing we could try is to send Alex some messages tele…" The door flew open. 

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late" Xander kicked off his shoes pushing them into their usual place. "I…uh…something came up with the Mrs." 

"I bet it did" Faith laughed crudely, while the man in question blushed furiously. Buffy giggled a bit rolling her eyes, Tara blushed and cracked a smile, and Willow merely raised an eyebrow. They still loved to tease him. He and his bride, even after quite a few years, still behaved much like newly weds. Most attributed it to the ridiculously infectious happiness of the other two couples in the room. Although, Xander's never quite matured, sexually overactive brain may have also been a contributing factor. 

"I come baring donuts, thought you could use some sugary deliciousness to take your minds off what happened to the little lady." He proclaimed tossing the box onto the glass top coffee table, and plopping into the lazy-boy recliner, which for all intents and purposes was deemed his because of the frequency with which he could found there. He brushed a stray, slightly graying lock from his eyes. 

"Never too old for the jelly kind" Willow said excitedly squishing the donut between her fingers, producing a smile from her lover. 

"I second that" Buffy replied grabbing one for herself, which Faith stole a quick nibble from. "Right…what were you saying before the doughnut-y-goodness arrived?" 

"Well" Willow licked a bit of jelly from the corner of her lips. "We could try to send Alex some messages to come back telepathically…but." She took another bite of her donut, and Tara continued. 

"But, it's really unlikely it would work, messaging between dimensions is near impossible." 

"Right, so… no on telepathy." Xander summarized. 

"I think we should try it X, maybe we'll get lucky." 

"Mm…I agwee wiff Faiff!" The redhead spoke through a mouthful of doughnut, swallowing quickly. 

"So what else?" Faith inquired. 

"Well…" The blonde witch began nervously. "If we absolutely have to, the only other thing we could really do is to, well, is to send you two there." 

"Are you serious?" Buffy asked. 

"Very, it might be the only thing that can save Alex, but…" 

"But…." the elder slayer prompted. 

"There is no absolute guarantee you will get there, or that you can get back here." 

*****

Faith blinked sleepily as the sunlight from the nearby window played on her face. She laid still for a few minutes letting herself wake up. It was then that she noticed her pillow appeared to moving up and down…rhythmically. Lifting her head, she saw that she has fallen asleep curled against Buffy, using her chest as a pillow. She sat up slowly, not wanting to wake the girl and just looked at her. The other girl was so beautiful so peaceful, and Faith, Faith was so undeserving. She felt it, stronger than she had ever felt anything. Laying in the arms of Buffy Summers, she felt truly unworthy. The brunette had finally gotten what she wanted, what she needed, and had no idea what to do with it, how to handle such a gift. Loss, failure, pain, hatred, lust, pure wildness all things she was familiar with, but contentedness? No. She needed time alone, to think, to…she was unsure exactly what purpose the time would serve, but knew nonetheless it was necessary. With a strange mix of reluctance and conviction she slipped out of the other girl's embrace. Padding to the vanity, she pulled her dark hair into a loose pony tail looking at herself, almost questioningly, in the mirror. She noticed her lack of clothes and turned to see the towel from the night before still firmly nestled in Buffy's arms. She silently clothed herself and hastily scribbled a note of explanation. Throwing on her jacket, Faith left the room, a simple message in her place. 

_B,   
Needed some fresh air. Don't worry about the Scooby meeting. I'll be there. _

_Faith_

*****

"Mm…nothing better than iced coffee on a chilly mornin'" Willow spoke enthusiastically, eliciting a strange look from her girlfriend, who was cradling her hot cup. "What's with this weather?" 

"I don't know, but I miss the warm, sunny, kind." 

"I don't really." 

"Oh?" Tara looked at the red-head. "Why's that?" 

"Extra cuddling." The blond girl laughed. 

"I guess there is something to be said for that." They smiled walking through the park toward their apartment, when they spotted someone familiar sitting on one of the benches. They were unsure, having never seen the girl with her hair up, but as they neared it became certain. 

"Faith?" The girl looked up. 

"Red?" 

"What are you doing out here?" 

Regardless of her inner turmoil, Faith couldn't resist the temptation to push the witch's buttons. "Sitting on a bench." Willow rolled her eyes. 

"Duh, why?" There was no answer from the girl. Tara was first to notice the pinkness of the girl's hands and face and the slight shiver. 

Tara looked at the two girls and wondered if what she was about to do was wise. Despite the stress now, she was sure that it would be good for them. If that prophesy they had found was accurate, then they needed to be at their strongest. Willow and Faith had to get along, and she decided to tackle such a feat head on. 

"Do you wanna come back to our apartment? We could make some hot chocolate you know the ones with the little marshmallows or… or some tea." The redhead looked at the other girl as if a second head had suddenly sprouted from her neck. One look at the Willow's face, and Faith decided. 

"Sure." 

"Ok." Tara smiled at Faith and then gave her girlfriend a look that made the redheaded nod, looking defeated. 

*****

"Hey hey, Buff-ey. What's up?" Alex hopped onto the kitchen counter, kicking her feet. She had woken up less than an hour ago and was feeling very energetic to put it mildly. With such sleeping habits, she missed Faith's leaving. The blond was washing a potato at the sink, presumably for baking. She looked completely out of it. "You ok?" 

"What?" 

"Are you ok?" The girl asked now genuinely concerned. 

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." The slayer sniffled, leaving a trace of doubt in the young girl's mind as to the validity of that claim. 

"And where's slayer number two this morning?" 

"It's 3:00 in the afternoon." 

"Technicality, morning begins when I wake up." 

"Ah, and does the sun shine out of your ass too?" The blond smirked at her. Alex responded by flicking a bread crumb at her, hitting her on the side of the face. Buffy glared, smiled, then flicked a little water back at the girl. Alex smirked back. 

"So where's Faith?" Turning away to put the potato in the microwave, Buffy answered solemnly. 

"She left." 

"What do you mean?" Alex's brow furrowed. 

"She left, I don't know where, but she said she'd meet us at the magic box." She spoke softly, with a sadness hanging in her voice. 

"I…but, you two were…with the blushing and…" 

"Yeah, thought so too…" 

"But, she loves you,…" 

"I…." The blond girl flopped dejectedly into a bar chair. "I don't know what to think." 

"She has been under some stress lately." Buffy nodded. "See what happens at the magic box, I think she probably just got scared…I'm sure you two will be doin' the nasty in no time." She joked. 

Buffy raised and eyebrow. "…yeah" 

"You trying to tell me you don't want to…you know…" The young girl made a hand gesture that made the blonde's jaw drop. 

"God, what kind of parent am I? Who taught you that?" Alex laughed out loud. 

"Don't worry it's the horror known as high school that poisoned my mind." 

"Ah." 

Watching Buffy it became clear that the blonde needed to think about something else for a while. "Wanna spar?" 

"With you?" 

"No." 

"Then who?" 

"Sarcasm Buffy, yes with me." She smirked. 

"Nah." The blonde smiled and stuck out her tongue. The girl's cheeriness was just too contagious. 

Alex raised a brow. "Afraid you can't hack it? Getting feeble in your old age perhaps?" 

"What?" The brunette knew she had her, when a fiery sparkle ignited the other girl's eyes. 

"I don't know maybe you're right, I mean your back could go out, the lines in the corner of your mouth could become more prominent, they say strain does that." Alex placed her hands on her cheeks feigning shock. 

"Oh, shut up. I could take you with both my eyes gauged out and one hand tied behind my back…and eww…" 

"Big words… from such a tiny woman." With that the deal was clinched, the blonde got up and began clearing a space. 

*****

"Nice place ya' got here Red!" Faith commented, looking round the apartment appreciatively. 

"Thanks, now boots…they go off." The girl answered hastily, trying to catch the slayer before her feet left the doormat. The brunette smirked, but nonetheless leaned down unlacing and removing her footwear. 

"So, hot chocolate? Or tea? Or…um…" Tara was clearly nervous. 

"Yeah, that sounds good." Faith had become distracted by the intensity with which the red-headed witch was watching her. 

"Oh…ok? W-wait which one?" 

"Oh, um…" Turning away from the other girl, the brunette joined the blonde in the kitchen. She was quickly followed by Willow. "Tea's fine." 

Tara slipped the hot-water kettle onto the burner, turning it to HI. She saw their guest standing awkwardly near the entrance way and gave her girlfriend a look. 

"You can sit," Faith looked at Willow questioningly. "In a chair I mean, you don't have to sit on the floor, not that you can't…I mean if for some reason you wanted to…you could stand too I guess…" The brunette's eyebrow raised and Tara smiled slightly at her. "What I mean is, we have seats, that are to sit in… and um…" 

"Thanks." 

"Yeah." An uncomfortable silence fell upon the room. 

"So what have you two geniuses discovered researching into the wee hours of the night?" 

"Um…lots." They gave each other knowing looks, which produced magnificent symphonies of reds and pinks to play on their cheeks. 

"So this was 'research'?" Faith asked, amusedly added quotation marks with her fingers. 

"No, no…not all the time." Willow vehemently defended. "We were deep in the books, and with the studying, we're the studying-type!" 

"Ah." The brunette chose not to comment any further, as the shy girl appeared quite close to dying of embarrassment. The whistling of the tea-pot broke through the discomfort. 

"What kind of tea would you like?" Tara asked, thankful for an excuse to change the subject. 

"Whatcha got blondie?" 

"Earl gray, erm…herbal, herbal, decaf, herbal, and um…ok this one is herbal too, okay, Green tea." 

"Earl Gray will do me fine." She nodded. The troubled slayer felt irritation build within her as Willow continued to watch her like a hawk. "Ya know Red, I'm sorry for all the shit I pulled, I really am, and I'm not gonna steal anything, so you can blink before your eyes fall outta their sockets." 

The red-head appeared more offended than moved. "You expect me to forgive you with an apology like that?" 

"I don't expect anything" Faith relented, thinking perhaps she was a bit snappy before. "Look Red, um…Willow, I know we never really got on, but I know I was wrong, and…" She breathed in. "And I'm sorry, accept it or not, I am." Tara smiled, so far so good. She brought over some freshly made tea and set a mug in front of Faith and then Willow, taking a seat herself. 

"I…" The hacker appeared speechless, but the tension in the room seemed to have decreased dramatically. 

Finally the brunette broke the silence. "So what did you guys actually find researching?" This time she kept the smirk off her face. 

"Um…" Willow and Tara suddenly seemed to get a bit nervous. 

The slayer raised a brow. "What's up?" 

"A prophesy" Tara answered, deciding their best course of action was to be straight with Faith. 

"Prophesy? Like ancient prophesy?" 

"Yeah…" 

"And…" 

"We think you're in it." Faith was absolutely silent for a bit. 

"Why me?" 

"Well, um…" Willow began hesitantly. Instead of finishing her sentence, she got up and went into the other room coming back with an old book and a notepad. "Read this, we translated it with Giles, two nights ago." It was clear that the translation was rough. In its original language, the passage had most likely been much more eloquent. 

The brunette read aloud. "From one will spring two, twin souls…. a warrior of light, born into darkness…. and a warrior of night, that stands at her side…she will rise and stop the coming… save two born of pure energy and the elements of magic…between warriors a choice will be made… the choice of death… for one a blessing, the other a burden." Faith sat puzzled. "What the fuck does that mean?" 

*****

"Had enough little girl?" 

"Hardly." Alex answered flipping the too cocky blonde onto her back. She got up slowly, watching the slayer throw herself back up almost effortlessly. Although she would never admit it to Buffy, she knew that with slayer stamina on the blonde's side it was nearly impossible for her to win. "There, I think I've shown you." She said laughing. 

Buffy accepted the disguised surrender seeing that the girl was a little worn out. "Yup, you sure did." 

"We should get showered and stuff, we gotta be at the Magic Box in less than an hour." 

"Yeah." The mention of the shop had clearly brought back all Buffy's doubts. 

"Aww…don't be blue, you and mom will be humping like bunnies in no time I'm sure." 

"You and sex," the blond rolled her eyes, but good-naturedly. "And I don't want it to be like that." 

"Oh right, so we're talking hours of sweet sweet lovin'?" She prodded. "Candle light and Barry White?" 

"Go take a shower." Alex smirked and sauntered off to the near-by bathroom. 

"Ah, a Marvin Gaye chick, no pun intended." 

"I…" 

"…Can you grab me towel?" The blonde's cheeks were flaming as she moved to the linen closet to grab the girl a towel, but it was nothing compared to the embarrassment she felt when she heard the words of a familiar song ringing from the bathroom. 

"I've been really tryin', baby….Tryin' to hold back these feelings for so long…And if you feel, like I feel baby…Come on, oh come on," Alex peered round the corner of the door post looking at Buffy. She significantly lowered her voice before singing the chorus into an inverted tube of face wash… "Let's get it on." Her audience responded by throwing and hitting her squarely in the face with a neatly folded towel. 

*****

"How do you think she's doing?" 

"I'm sure she's doing fine, I trust Buffy to be fair." 

"Oh yeah? Cause she was so fair on the rooftop? And who can forget all the times she DIDN'T go and visit Faith in jail." Cordelia replied sarcastically, staring at him over his desk. 

"If your so concerned, why don't you just call her?" The vampire asked, smiling a bit once he noticed the former-cheerleader went silent, that was until he noticed it was only due to an incoming vision. Quickly he moved around his desk, kneeling beside her. 

Angel made eye contact with Wesley. "Aspirin and water?" The ex-watcher nodded hurrying toward the hotel kitchen. 

*****

Buffy and Alex walked into the magic shop, taking a seat across from Willow and Tara. 

"Hey guys, what's up?" Alex asked, noticing Buffy watching the door. "Where's the watcher?" 

"He's in the back training with Faith" Willow answered. 

"Faith's here?" The blonde immediately perked up. 

At that moment the door burst open. "Hey sorry I'm late, but I come baring donuts" Xander stated sliding them onto the table and hoping they would be enough to deter those present from chastising him. 

"Jelly?" The red-head inquired excitedly. 

"Of course, Wills." The boy answered. "What's a donut without fruity deliciousness?" 

"Mm…" She squished it happily between her fingers. As the others swarmed round the newly arrived pastries, Buffy got up and headed into the back room. She was met with a strange sight. Faith was in a hand stand, her back facing the door way. Evidently, she had been in that position for quite some time because the muscle strain was evident. Buffy was surprised to find that the brunette was wearing some back up work-out clothes that she kept there; a black sports bra and a pair of track pants. No doubt Giles had asked the girl to change. The view was not unpleasant, and Buffy found herself visually tracing the outline of muscle in the other slayer's arms, back, and… 

It was at this point that the watcher noticed the other woman, nodding his hello, and then continuing his observation of the brunette. 

"Very good, you can release now." The relieved slayer lowered herself resting on the mat. As the pain eased, her senses became more aware and she felt the other girl's presence. She lifted her head, meeting the other girl's eyes for only a brief moment before turning away. 

"I'll get the others started with research but when I return I must speak with you two about something important." With that, he left the room. 

"Hey." Buffy began moving towards Faith. The brunette got up and went over to grab a towel, turning her back to the blonde. 

"Hey." 

Buffy was having none of it. "Faith, please, look at me?" Reluctantly the brunette turned and looked into the other woman's eyes. "Why did you go?" 

"I…fuck B, I can't do this." 

"Do what?" The elder girl inquired, quite worried. 

"Us…" Her voice was raised, but softened as she reached up to rub her eyes. "Us, Buffy." Frustrated and upset, Faith tried to leave the room. She was almost immediately stopped. 

"No. Faith." 

"No what B? I fucking can't." Her tone firm, but not aggressive. 

"I know you want this Faith, you know I want this. So why?" 

"I…" The brunette was stuck again. 

"I love you, Faith." 

"B, please…" 

"Please what?" 

"Don't…" 

"Don't what? Love you?" The blonde was incredulous, even more so when the brunette looked down in reluctant confirmation. "I couldn't stop even if I wanted to." 

Faith began to whisper a quiet explanation. "I don't deserve…" 

"You do." Buffy quickly stopped her. "I'm not perfect Faith, and I need to apologize." 

"No, B." Placing a finger over her lips, the blonde silenced her. 

"I was so self-righteous with you Faith, when you first came… it was easier for me to simplify what happened, to say you were bad and I was good, to let them lock you away, then to analyze…" Buffy looked deep into Faith's eyes as she continued. "I wouldn't admit how similar we were, we are, and what I felt with you, for you…even then… so, I am sorry, I'm sorry for everything." 

As a reply Faith gently, more gently than she had ever done anything, kissed the tip of Buffy's finger. Again the brunette went with the part of herself she rarely listened to, the part that wanted this, and needed this. The blonde replaced her finger with her lips and the two kissed. 

"I'm afraid this will complicate matters a bit." Giles stated as he entered the room. The two pulled apart shocked, wearing identical expressions of embarrassment.


	11. Warriors

**PART 10:** **Warriors**  
  
Giles removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  
  
"Giles…I"  
  
"No explanation necessary Buffy. " He quickly responded. "The matter I have to discuss with you, has become even more grave with this new development."  
  
"What's up Giles?" The blonde was concerned.  
  
"Faith, I believe, is already aware of the prophecy we discovered, but you are not. Two nights ago, we discovered a prophecy linked to the arrival of a demon who is more than capable of leading the Shakar. There has been quite, according to Spike whom I regret to say has been very useful, a buzz about a new demon that quite accurately reflects the demon linked to this prophecy and the demon Alex described. Now I need you Faith to be honest with me."  
  
"Ok…" The brunette was a bit wary.  
  
"You did not see what Alex described did you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You must have seen someone who is capable of inspiring fear in you? Is this correct?" The slayer nodded.  
  
"We are dealing with something that dangerous in way that slayers rarely need deal with. This demon has a long standing vendetta against the human race, which traces back to a massive genocide perpetuated by the humans against it's race. The beings were highly evolved and exist mostly as a mass of focused energy , which unfortunately is invisible to the human eye. In their evolution they developed remarkable telepathic and telekinetic abilities. In short, the demon can read your mind. Now this would not in itself be so dangerous, however when paired with the Shakar, this demon has the ability to read your most painful memories." He waited, allowing the information he had just shared to sink in. "Not only does this give the enemy and intimate knowledge of us, but the demon also has the ability to manifest itself in any form it chooses. Now there is a catch, thank goodness, which explains the differences in yours and Alex's accounts, Faith. The demon can only manifest to one person. To other's it will appear as a unclear, black, hollow-like figure. So this ability can be countered by staying in pairs. Any questions so far?"  
  
"Yeah, you mentioned a prophecy?" Buffy was confused.  
  
"I will get to that, but yes there is one."  
  
"So basically whatever I saw before was just the demon fucking with my mind?" Faith asked to be sure.  
  
"Correct. Again this ability becomes far more troublesome when coupled with the abilities of the Shakar. These demons can make one relive any painful experience, now that combined with the demons manifesting ability…well, suffice it say that the victims of such a double attack could come to believe that this created world is reality. Such a belief would prove   
fatal, because it would cause a paralyzing fear. Once the victim is in such a state, it proves easy prey for the head demon…"  
  
"And so the thing just kills you once that happens?" The brunette inquired.  
  
"Mm, not quite. It actually draws out and feeds upon the vital energies that permit human life, or any life for that matter…"  
  
"So it's like vamp, only it sucks energy?"  
  
"Yes, except it is far more difficult to kill."  
  
"How do you kill it?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Well this is where it gets complicated and the prophecy emerges. The prophecy was actually written in ancient Babylonian, it roughly translates to 'From one will spring two, twin souls…. a warrior of light, born into darkness…. and a warrior of night, that stands at her side…she will rise and stop the coming… save two born of pure energy and the elements of magic…between warriors a choice will be made… the choice of death… for one a blessing, the other a burden'. It's vague to say the least, but we've been able to decipher quite a bit…" Giles looked Faith squarely in the eyes. "You are the warrior of light, Faith, it cannot be Buffy, she does not satisfy the second piece. You and your twin soul, which we have yet to identify, must stop the demon. Now, the coming referred to in this prophecy is a ceremony, which opens the gate to another dimension, a hell dimension, where the vital energies of the slaughtered sister demons still exist. These spirits, once released, are able to retake their original form and exact revenge on the race that attempted to destroy them. The ceremony frees them, but takes a massive amount of magical energies to do so. This is where the "two born of pure energy and the elements of magic' come in. The demon itself is powerful enough to open most of the portal, but to actually   
release the spirits, the demon must drain the vital energies of these two into the beginnings of the portal."  
  
"Dawn and Alex" Buffy whispered.  
  
"Dawn and Alex?" Giles asked puzzled.  
  
"Remember the vision I mentioned? The one Cordelia had?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Well those two girls that are about to die, they were Dawn and Alex."  
  
The watcher understood. "Two beings born of pure energy and the elements of magic." They all exchanged glances. "What we have yet to understand is the last part, it's odd, there is no direct explanation of how the demon can be   
killed, only the statement that either Faith or her 'twin soul' can do it."  
  
Faith sighed, feeling the weight of responsibility. "Alex says Buffy is my soul mate, could that be it?"  
  
"No…the Babylonian word refers specifically to something identical, the same… soul mates are a perfect match, but not identical…"  
  
"So your telling me there is someone else walking around with my soul or whatever?" The brunette was clearly skeptical. "And we have to find them?"  
  
"There must be and we need to find them."  
  
"So why does the me and Faith, and the kissing…" Buffy blushed, before clearing her throat. "Why does that complicate matters?"  
  
"Well, this may be hard to hear, but you are not in the prophecy, something about Faith's energy makes her a much stronger foe…"  
  
"So you're saying…"  
  
"You can't help her, when the time comes, Buffy you must let her go in with this other person. You can't fight with her and you cannot save her. Do you understand?"  
  
"Giles, I…"  
  
"Buffy, you will be a distraction." She nodded reluctantly and Faith seemed to grow a little more determined. "Now with this knowledge, it is imperative that we guard Alex and Dawn far more closely than we have been."  
  
"Maybe you should teach them some of this sensing shit, might help?" Faith suggested.  
  
"Perhaps, but you are our warrior, that is why I have been training you so hard…it might even be in your interest to learn some simple magic. "  
  
"Yeah maybe." She conceded.  
  
He turned his attention to Buffy. "I must speak with Faith alone now, could you go and help the others? Perhaps share with them what I we discussed? And pick Dawn up?" The blonde agreed, seeing the seriousness in Giles' voice and face.  
  
  
***  
  
(A)  
  
"Yeah, I have no idea what your talkin' about Red," Faith answered staring quizzically at the spell book and ingredients laid out on the table. Buffy stood beside her wearing a similar expression.  
  
"We're not much with the magic jargon Wills, we'll just have to take your word for it."  
  
"It's pretty simple though, you just transmute…." The red-head could see she already lost the slayers. "You know understanding magic might be good for slayers, it could help with some…well, not slayer stuff…cause that's fighting and, well…"  
  
"Gotcha Red, magic equals useful." The brunette saved her from babbling any further.  
  
"Ok good." As the witch opened her mouth to continue explaining, a squeal echoed from the top of the staircase. The sound was followed by the stomping of two sets of feet down the stairs.  
  
"MOM" A small red-headed girl yelled, standing before the three adults, her face stained with tears. "Jesse pulled my hair and then he stole Cindy." She accused through a tear laden voice.  
  
The sandy-blonde boy in question soon appeared, a doll hanging loosely in his grip. "She started it by stealing Snoopy."  
  
"He wanted some tea"  
  
"Did not"  
  
"Did too"  
  
"DID not, Snoopy doesn't like your stupid tea parties!"  
  
"Yes he does, he told me"  
  
"Yeah, well he told me your tea parties SUCK!"  
  
"HEY, hey hey hey hey!" Willow came over. "You two, be nice, Jesse don't talk to your sister like that and give her back Cindy, and Sarah stop taking your brother's toys. Now you two behave or no cookie-type fun after dinner. Now apologize." The slayers watched in poorly hidden amusement.  
  
"I'm sorry" The boy pushed out sounding very insincere, as he tossed the doll to the floor.  
  
"I'm sorry too." The little girl was just as insincere as she picked the doll up, dusting it off.  
  
"Where's your mommy?"  
  
"She's with Nicky"  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Jesse pushed him and he skinned his knee." The girl seemed to take immense personal satisfaction in relaying this news.  
  
"He pushed me first mom!" The little boy vehemently protested.  
  
"We don't push Jesse." Willow looked at him. "You're on very thin cookie ice mister! You better be Mr. goodness till dinner, maybe even…clean up your room."  
  
"But mom!"  
  
"Resolve face!"  
  
He sighed in defeat. "Yeah, ok" The children retreated up the stairs, making faces at each other.  
  
"Magic is a wonderful thing, three beautiful children…so well behaved and considerate…" Willow sighed, just a bit tenser. "Alex is coming back ASAP, I need my baby-sitter."  
  
***  
  
Giles circled Faith continuing his speech. "You may still have some things to prove, to me, to the others, but if this prophecy is indeed correct, which seems to be the case, you are the only one who can stop it." He paused looking her straight in the face. "They will come after you the hardest, I've no doubt that they will use every thought and every memory they can absorb to line their arsenal. You will be fighting a war not only with the demons, but with your own mind."  
  
Faith nodded reluctantly. "Can't you guys stop or get rid of what happened to B, y'know maybe stop giving the demons shit to use against me?" The watcher appeared taken aback, but recovered quickly.  
  
"Yes, I'll have Willow and Tara look into that."  
  
"Yeah." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously.  
  
"There is another matter I must discuss with you." His serious tone returned.  
  
"I'm assuming this is more bad news?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
"Oh, well whatcha got watcher man?" Although her tone was quite light and playful, her eyes revealed the restlessness and turmoil boiling inside her.

"Faith, who is Marguerite?" The brunette looked puzzled. "Maggie? Maggie Thornstrom?"  
  
Her eyes opened wide and her jaw hung a bit lower on her face. "She…" Pausing, the girl cleared her throat. "Maggie was my watcher."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"….yes"  
  
"There was a man, a lawyer, affiliated with the council, he came to my apartment last night asking about you. He said he used to work for your watcher."  
  
"What?? What did you tell him?"  
  
"I told him I hadn't seen you in years." Faith smiled a bit at the man, grateful.  
  
"Thanks, but what the hell could he want?"  
  
"He told me that he could only share that information with you." The watcher reached in to his pocket, pulling out the business card. "And he gave me this, he wants you to call him, I leave that choice up to you, he knows you are in Sunnydale."  
  
Reluctantly, Faith took the card, staring at it. "Ewan Hendrik? He is a lawyer! Hendrik and James huh?"  
  
"Yes." He answered. Without another word, Faith slipped the small piece of cardboard into her back pocket. She cleared her throat again.

  
"So training?"  
  
"Yes." He nodded getting up and grabbing several throwing knives that lined the training room wall.  
  
"What are those for?" Faith questioned. She had an inkling, but the idea just made her more uneasy.  
  
"Close your eyes."  
  
"What?? Are you shitting me?"  
  
"Absolutely not, now close your eyes."  
  
"I don't think so G-man."  
  
"This is the problem Faith, you don't trust yourself."  
  
"I don't know if it's a matter of trusting me, G-man. I ain't the one throwin' knives at a blind girl." He appeared quite un-amused. "Alright." As her eyes closed, Giles, unknown to the slayer, slid covers on each blade. The watcher, regardless of his stern manner, was not about to throw Faith to the proverbial wolves. They would work their way up, but he felt more progress would be made if the brunette girl was unaware of her safety net. He would have her believe that he had full and uncompromising confidence in her abilities. After allowing her to relax and focus for a few minutes he verbally signaled to her and the first blade was thrown.  
  
***  
  
_Angel fought legions of black colored demons along side Faith. Before them was a bright expanse of energy that seemed to outline a human like form hovering over a massive crack in the earth. As the intensity of the light grew the crack seemed to expand. It was then that Angel and Faith looked at each other, shoving the small demons aside. Both reared back and leaped, each looking to miss the other side…_  
  
Cordelia sucked in a breath as the powers that be released their painful hold on her mind. Looking up with weary eyes, she gratefully took the water and aspirin waiting for her, thanks to her attentive boss. Laying still, she rested and prepared to relay the content of what she had just seen.  
  
***  
  
"So what are we like?"  
  
"Huh?" Alex responded, pausing mid nibble on her donut.  
  
"In your world? Cause we know we exist there… when we met you knew our names…Buffy could have told you… I guess, cause she knows of us…"  
  
"Older." The girl answered, throwing a piece of pastry in the air and catching it in her mouth. She looked at the slightly irritated red-head and gave her smart-alecky smirk, that reminded the witch so much of another brunette. She chuckled a bit before continuing. "I'd say a lot like you are now, you two had one of those wiccan wedding things, and pay your   
babysitters really well, REALLY well. Remember that for the future."  
  
"We have children??" Tara asked, astonished.  
  
Alex held up three fingers.  
  
"Three?" Willow's jaw dropped open a bit. "But how??"  
  
Alex shrugged. "All I know is it's got something to do with magic. Come to think of it, I don't really wanna know how, having heard some of the jokes mom cracks about it." She shook her head good-naturedly. "And you two are my   
god moms!"  
  
"Really?" Tara asked, smiling.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"So wait we have three children?" Willow was clearly still digesting the information.  
  
"Two boys, one girl. Nicky, Sarah, and Jesse, um…3, 5, and 7 respectively."  
  
"Wow."  
  
"They are quite the handful." She laughed picking off more bits of her donut and tossing them into her mouth. The wiccans sat, thinking about what they had just discovered . Alex took the opportunity their distraction afforded to snag the last jelly donut. As she happily snacked, the door to the magic box opened and three obviously cold individuals clambered in.  
  
"Can I be the first to say brr?" Xander said raising his hand as he pushed the door shut with his foot.  
  
"Very brr." Dawn concurred.  
  
Her older sister merely exaggerated her pout rubbing at her pink nose. "Since when does it get this cold in California?" The three crossed their arms and moved to the table joining the others.  
  
"Need sugar!" The boy said moving directly toward the donut carton, followed losely by the slayer.  
  
Buffy peeked in the donut box. "HEY!!!! Who ate all the jelly ones??"  
  
Alex made eye contact with the distraught slayer and licked her fingers clean, smiling.  
  
***  
  
(A)  
  
"You want me to what? Put my hand in where Wills?" The blonde woman sat warily eyeing the various jars on the table. The red-head hollered an answer from a nearby room. "Eeew…I'm so not touching that!"  
  
"You're such a girly girl." Faith rolled her eyes, picking up one of the chicken feet from the jar of brine it had been sitting in. Buffy made a disgusted face as the brunette carried it in to the other room.  
  
" So Red how many spells actually call for these delicious little morsels?" She asked shaking the foot about.  
  
"Quite a few, if you grind a bit, it makes a wonderful binding agent. They are kind of to magic what salt is to cooking, a little in everything."  
  
"Ah ha and why do you have soak it in that nasty stuff?"  
  
"Makes it much more pliable." Tara responded, as Willow wiggled it for emphasis. Buffy's face wrinkled in repulsion.  
  
"You two got the whole mad scientist thing going on down here." Faith looked around at the various ingredient jars and science equipment.  
  
"The spell should be ready to go tonight, you two might wanna go home and get anything you wanna take ready."  
  
"Just so it's understood, I am so NOT drinking anything with chicken feet in it!"  
  
Faith rolled her eyes. "Geez B, See you two later! Come on honey"  
  
"But," The brunette gave her a little smack on the behind. "HEY!"  
  
"Didn't you hear Red? We need to get ready before we go." She gave her wife a look that held promises Buffy wasn't about to miss out on.  
  
"Mmm…see you two later." The two slayers scurried off, leaving the two witches to shake their heads in mock disapproval.  
  
***  
  
"Wait a minute!!!!" Alex interrupted, quite agitated. "You're telling me that faceless asshole is after me??"  
  
"Um…according to Giles."  
  
"Well then that stupid PTB guy really fucked this up."  
  
"PTB guy?" Buffy asked, confused.  
  
"Yeah you have a contact, he tells us what going on. He told you that I needed to be here… to help out." The brunette girl revealed.  
  
"Um…if help out means having your energy drained through some demon's mystical crazy straw, then he was right."  
  
"Drunk asshole." She mumbled under her breath and then raised an eyebrow as she fully processed what Buffy had said. "Mystical crazy straw?"  
  
"You know those plastic things with the twirls…" The blonde traced a path in the air, stopping when she saw Alex's amused smile. "Oh shut up, you know what I mean."  
  
"This fucking bites. Y'know! It's always me, I'm like a trouble magnet or something." The brunette girl ranted overdramatically.  
  
"Um Hello! Not the only one who is in danger of being sucked!" Dawn broke in, not wanting to be forgotten. Her comment caused all the people in the room to turn and stare at her, with the exception of Alex who was restraining the laughter that was threatening to burst out of her. "What?"  
  
"Right, so…" Xander cleared his throat. "Is that all he told you in there?"  
  
"Yup. So, these two have got to be protected."  
  
Dawn looked are around. "No guys, I'm serious! What?"  
  
"I can handle myself" Alex commented, flipping out her knife.  
  
"Wow, can I see that?" The young Summers asked, watching the light as it flickered along the blade. Her previous question slipping away.  
  
"No!" Buffy answered emphatically.  
  
"Sure!" Alex tossed it lightly to the girl, who just barely caught it.  
  
"Cool!" Dawn answered mesmerized, as she swished it back and forth. Her steadiness and smoothness were impressive for such an obvious novice. The blonde slayer plucked it from her grasp planting it firmly on the table. "Hey!"  
  
"First off, there will be protection. This is serious you two! You guys have to go into hiding, at least until we can find a better way."  
  
"How about training us?" Alex suggested as if were the most obvious solution in the world.  
  
"It's too risky."  
  
"Buffy. I'm not hiding."  
  
"Yes you are!" The blonde stood up in a challenge.  
  
Knowing she had no choice, Alex gave the slayer a piercing glare. "Fine"  
  
"Now…" She sighed feeling very much the bad guy, but knowing she had done the right thing. "Now…Giles will be out with some new info after he and Faith finish training."  
  
***  
  
Faith stepped in, throwing the man to the ground. She felt a bit of pride at her progress. However, it was soon replaced with a new feeling; the feeling of her side and upper arm slamming into a hard gym mat, as their positions were reversed. He offered her his hand, breathing heavily as he spoke to her.  
  
"Do not move against me Faith, move with me, use my speed, my momentum, my attack. Use that energy for the throw. You will need to reserve your own." He retook his original position. "Do not step in, let me…" He moved again, attacking, holding his weapon high. Faith closed her eyes and let him do the work, coming into her she turned throwing him with the speed of his own charge. The impact itself was enough to disarm him. She stood off from him, almost awed at the ease of the move. Awed by the lack of energy it took her to throw a grown man near ten feet. As slayer she was used to being able to do such things, but not like that….it usually took some effort.  
  
He coughed, getting up slowly, thankful for the full body shock absorbent pads he donned earlier. "Very Impressive" Giles croaked out, wincing a bit.  
  
"Hey you ok G-man?" She was concerned. Perhaps she had thrown him a bit too often, and just a little too hard.  
  
"Yes, I'm quite alright, but I'm afraid if we train any longer I won't be." He laughed lightly. "I'm far beyond my glory days."  
  
"Nah, you still got plenty of stud left in ya."  
  
He chuckled, but was entirely flattered by the comment. "I'm sure." Faith smiled at him and wiped the light perspiration from her forehead. "Shall we join the others?" She merely nodded.  
  
***  
  
(A)  
  
Faith held her wife lightly, stroking the hair away from her forehead as the blonde woman caught her breath, small tremors still racing through her.  
  
"Mmm…" Buffy let out a heavy sigh; her breathing slowly returning to normal. She spied the bedside clock. "So maybe we should really get ready huh?" She pushed out.  
  
The brunette laughed lightly, her chest vibrating pleasantly against the other woman's cheek. "Unfortunately." Both unhappily separated and began to dress themselves.  
  
"Um…baby?" The blonde woman started, fastening her bra round the back, and grabbing a turtle neck sweater from the near by closet.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Have you ever thought about well, maybe, having another…um, well another kid? I know it's been awhile but we were so young with Alex…"  
  
Faith stopped mid-button on her blouse. "After seeing Red's three little terrors??"  
  
"Yeah I guess you're right" Buffy quickly responded turning her eyes away and slipping on her jeans. She was silently berating herself when she felt two arms wind round her waist stroking along her bare stomach as they found their way into her front pockets.  
  
"Quite a few times actually." Faith answered kissing the blonde girl's ear and slipping away to finish buttoning her shirt. Buffy turned around, staring into the brunette's eyes.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Mm hmm." Faith answered slipping on her leathers.  
  
"I can't believe you still fit into those." Buffy commented, looking the other woman up and down as she slipped her sweater on. "I can't believe they still look so damn good."  
  
"What can I say!" She answered, licking her finger and touching it to herself as she made a sizzling noise. The blonde shook her head and rolled her eyes.  
  
"You know what I love about you?"  
  
"What's that? My sparkling wit?"  
  
"Hardly."  
  
"Harsh." The brunette laughed.  
  
"Your modesty."  
  
"Hey, I thought self-confidence was a good thing."  
  
"Yes it is, but over-confidence is a pompous thing and if it weren't so well founded I might have had to deflate that monstrous ego."

  
Faith raised an eyebrow. "At least I don't check my behind in every level mirror."  
  
"Jeans are tricky thing to wear."  
  
"Yes with all that buttoning and zipping B."  
  
"Shh you! And start packing."  
  
"Or?" The brunette mock challenged.  
  
"Or I'll have to shh you myself."  
  
"Come on then, give us a kiss." The blonde need no more encouragement. Again their lips met and it was at that moment that the bedroom door opened revealing two wiccans with a ready-made spell.  
  
"This is starting to become a disturbing trend." Willow commented, noticing the clothes strewn about as the two broke apart. "You're not even packed? What have you been doing all this time?" All it took was the sheepish expressions on both slayers faces to guess the answer. "Ah. Well hurry up and get some stuff together. We left Xander to watch the kids, no telling what might happen." She added a shoo gesture for emphasis. Soon they were ready and hugs were exchanged.  
  
Willow sucked in a breath. "You sure you wanna do this, what with the dangerousness!"  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
"We trust ya Red."  
  
"Oh good, well I hope I don't send you to some awful hell dimension then." She answered, clearly nervous.  
  
"Willow, breathe" Tara commanded.  
  
"Oh right." The two witches sat, explaining to the slayers that they could not alter anything themselves, only advise and retrieve Alex. Then relaxed as they began their chant. As their voices grew louder a portal began to grow. Soon after the slayers entered, with a pack on each of their backs, and the prayers of their friends.  
  
***  
  
Buffy sat quietly on the couch watching the flame as it flickered back and forth, slowly dying. Pulling herself up, she moved to feed the fire, shoving a large dry log in the middle of the pile. As the fire slowly flared back up, her thoughts returned to Faith. She was still unsure where they stood and now the brunette was further weighed down by the knowledge of her own destiny. Should she talk to Faith about it? Would the girl even want to discuss it? The older slayer had no idea. The brunette had gone upstairs to the master bedroom, looking worn out from the training. Alex had gone to bed, apparently to sleep off her anger at the fact that she would have to go into hiding. She had called her mother to say Dawn would be staying with her, just for a bit. The younger Summers had taken the bedroom adjacent to Alex's. She had put up quite a protest about being forced to stay at the mansion, but in the end had given in. Giles had brought them all up to speed before dismissing her, Faith, Xander, Dawn and Alex for the night. However, he had kept Willow and Tara to discuss a spell that might keep her from transmitting anything else to the demons.  
  
The blonde girl was the only one still up and about. She wanted desperately to go see Faith, to be upstairs with her and decided to once again try her luck. Taking a deep breath, she climbed quietly up the stairs. Stepping near the entry way, the girl looked into the room. She saw Faith sitting silently on the bed, her back propped against the headboard, her knees draw up and bent. She was staring at what looked like a business card, her brow furrowed with thought. Inhaling and closing her eyes, the blonde decided to make her presence known.  
  
"Hey." Her voice was soft. The brunette looked up, smiling weakly at the other girl.  
  
"Hey B"  
  


"What's that?" She pointed with her gaze, at the loosely held piece of cardboard. Looking down at it, Faith answered slowly.  
  
"It's business card, belongs to some lawyer that used to work for my watcher."  
  
"What does he want with you?" Buffy was mildly concerned.  
  
"I dunno," She shrugged. "I haven't called him."  
  
"Why not?" The blonde made sure to keep her voice gentle and non-aggressive. She leaned causally against the concrete door frame.  
  
"He also works for the council." Faith's gaze was warm as it locked with the other girl. "You can sit over here, I mean if you want, B" The blonde smiled, and gingerly took a seat on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Can I see that?" The brunette handed her the card and Buffy took it, making sure to subtly touch the other girl's hand. "Thanks."  
  
The darker girl noticed the contact and immediately felt herself react. She was ashamed as the desire to once again feel the comfort she found in the other girl's arms, swamped her. Feeling a change of subject was necessary, she spoke. "His cell number is on the back."  
  
The blonde slayer sat thinking for a few moments, reading the card. "Are you worried about it?"  
  
"I just don't know what the hell he could want with me."  
  
"Hmm…" The brunette turned away, looking down. "What is it?"  
  
"Shit B, what if it's like a wrongful death suit or something like that? I heard about that kind of stuff."  
  
"Faith I saw what happened, there's no case for that, and think those cases are for like work related stuff." The blonde answered, trying to reassure her.  
  
"I guess...I, I can't go back to jail…it's fucking hell in there…"  
  
"Faith…you won't." The brunette sighed heavily, averting her eyes again. Suddenly an idea seemed to strike the blonde. "Why don't you call his office, and see what kind of law he does? If you're still worried, you don't have to call him."  
  
The brunette seemed to think about this. "Yeah, maybe." The two sat in a silence, that was bordering awkward.  
  
"Faith?"  
  
"Yeah B?"  
  
"Where are we?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Where do we stand?"  
  
Faith breathed in deeply, not expecting the question and completely unprepared to explain her thoughts and feelings. Unable to think of any words that expressed what she desired, she answered the question physically. She looked deeply into the eyes of the other girl, and leaned forward slowly, allowing her time to back away if she chose to. The blonde held her ground, her eyes slipping closed as Faith kissed her soundly. Her movements a bit tremulous, the brunette reached out, pulling the other girl to her with a unexpected degree of tenderness. For the first time since they admitted to each other what they had once been afraid to even think, they well and truly kissed. Tongues, lips, hands, caressing, mingling, and saying more than words alone could ever. They kissed for as long as they could, slowly drawing apart.  
  
Each breath that Faith drew was shaky. For the brunette, this was unexplored territory. In her life thus far, a kiss had always just been a kiss, nothing more and no strings attached, but this…this…her brain was unable to comprehend the levels of emotion, the strength of feeling that the other girl evoked in her. It scared her and at the same time elated her. Her eyes had remained closed, while a confusing stream of conscious overwhelmed her. She was brought back to reality by the feeling of Buffy's warm hand on her cheek and soft finger on her lips.  
  
Buffy too had been shocked by the depth of feeling. She hadn't felt something like that in so long and she had missed it as soon as the kiss broke. The feelings were as strong as she had felt with Angel, but there was something intrinsically different about kissing the brunette slayer. Years before, she would never have imagined Faith could be so tender and gentle. As her eyes opened, she saw the other girl's face, her eyes closed and lips slightly parted. She was so so beautiful. The blonde felt an intense desire to touch her. Cupping her cheek, she traced the other girl's full lips with her finger. She watched as the other girl's eyelids lifted, revealing deep, swirling, warm, chocolate brown eyes…eyes that she had only seen so close before when filled with piercing fiery anger or deep running pain.  
  
The blonde girl repeated her opening line of the evening. "Hey"  
  
The brunette smiled, teeth and all, laughing softly. "Hey, B." Buffy had rarely seen the brunette smile fully like that, and was again struck by the other girl's beauty. She kissed her softly and the brunette responded in kind. This kiss was just as powerful, just as passionate, and just as tender as the last. One of the blonde's hands buried itself in a soft mass of brown hair, while the other rested on the brunette's side stroking softly. Their second broke with the same reluctance as the first,   
leaving both girls breathing a little heavier. The slayers were surprised to find themselves now laying down, Faith nearly on her back, Buffy on her side, just over the other girl. This too was new for the dark slayer, being underneath, willingly in a submissive position.  
  
"I love you."  
  
The brunette, regardless of the intrinsic hallmark-osity of the moment, was touched. "I… I love you too, B" She reached up and placed a fallen lock of blonde hair behind the other girl's ear. As their lips prepared to met again the phone on the bedside table let out a piercingly high-pitched ring, causing both occupants of the bed to jump apart. Buffy, almost in a daze, picked up the phone…  
  
"Hello?"  
  
~Hey Buffy~  
  
"Oh hey Wills. What's up?"  
  
~You ok?~  
  
"What?"  
  
~You sound a bit husky. You don't feel all sick do you?~  
  
"Oh, oh no, um…I'm just a bit tired I guess." She coughed nervously.  
  
~….Ok, We think we might have found something that could help.~  
  
"Help?"  
  
~With the vessel-y stuff?~  
  
"Oh right"  
  
~Can you come by?~  
  
"Tonight???" The blonde was exasperated.  
  
~Uh, no…actually me and Tara have a bit of research to finish, so tomorrow~ Buffy heard a small giggle in the background and her eyebrow lifted. ~I mean if that's ok~  
  
"Oh yeah, that's fine"  
  
~Ok, well I gotta go. Bye!~  
  
"Bye Wills, night!" She hung the phone back on its rocker.  
  
"What was that about?" Faith asked softly, looking off to the side.  
  
"Wills and Tara think they have a spell that could stop the vessel stuff."  
  
"Cool." The brunette answered around a yawn. Buffy noticed how completely exhausted Faith looked.  
  
"We should get to bed." As the blonde slowly got up, she felt the other girl's hand wrap gently around hers, halting her. She turned to face the other girl.  
  
"Stay?" It was barely audible, but she heard the request just the same. Smiling warmly, the blonde settled into the brunette's waiting arms, and very soon after that sleep overtook both of them.  
  
***  
  
The quiet stillness of a cemetery was disturbed by a growing ball of energy. It's size continued to increase along with it's brilliance until two figures stepped out from it. Buffy and Faith peered round the graveyard, relieved just to find themselves in the correct dimension, let alone the right city.  
  
"I think this is it." The blonde woman commented peering round the cemetery.  
  
"You ready for a blast from our past B?"  
  
"I think so…" The woman checked her pockets, making sure their means of returning was safely stowed away. "So how are we supposed to find them?"  
  
"Innate slayer tracking skills?"  
  
"You got any?" Buffy chuckled when the brunette shook her head no. "Me neither."  
  
"Looks like we'll have to go with plan B then."  
  
"And what's plan B oh fearless leader, go on impress me."  
  
"Blind luck."  
  
"Well, thank goodness! We're all set then" The blonde rolled her eyes good-naturedly, earning herself a polite shove.  
  
"You got a better idea?"  
  
"Logical reasoning!…hmm….if I were me, where would I go?"  
  
Faith burst out laughing. "If that's the logical approach count me out."  
  
"Shh…" The blonde cocked her head to the side. "You hear that?"  
  
Voices distorted and softened by distance, floated through the air. "Bloody hell, I made good, and he can't be bothered…another week, the poof is lucky I didn't drain him right there…"  
  
"I'm sure he'll make good Spike, I know what would cheer you up? How about a nice game of poker? I have fresh kittens…." A loud growl and the sound of stomping feet echoed through the night air.  
  
"A simple no would have sufficed."  
  
"Heard that" The brunette commented. The two slayers, pulled back the bushes, to reveal William the bloody stalking away from an excessively fleshy demon. "He's still alive here?"  
  
"Guess so…" The blonde answered, watching his retreating form.  
  
"We should fix that." Faith made a move to get up.  
  
"No."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We can't alter things. Remember what Tara and Willow said, we just have to get Alex and get out of here."  
  
"But what if he does the same thing…"  
  
"I know."  
  
"We can't let him, B"  
  
"It's not our choice."  
  
"Fucking fate." Buffy solemnly nodded.  
  
"Come on, let's go find us." With that the two slayers began their search.  
  
***  
  
Dawn woke up due to a loud thud, one that sounded exceptionally nearby. Jerking upward, her eyes automatically scanned the premise for an intruder, but found herself alone in the room. Carefully she crept to her door, and opened it slowly checking the hall. Nothing. She heard it again and crept towards the living room, where another faint sound could be heard. Her eyes followed a headphone cord that had been jacked into Angel's expensive looking sound system. She found the headphones thrown over Alex's head. What she saw shocked, disturbed, and amused her all at the same time.  
  
They were clearly pumping out something obnoxiously loud, that the other girl knew all the words to. She sang along, well more mouthed along, and preformed what some would consider a dance. Head banging, jumping, air guitar, dropping to her knees to fake belt out the tune, wild hand movements. For Dawn this was all too familiar and cemented in her mind the fact that this was Buffy's daughter. She had only witnessed something so disturbing one other time, during her sisters unfortunate and very secret Bon Jovi phase…except this was with the absence of heavily ripped jeans and strangely placed bandanas, thank the lord. As her mind recreated the scene, Alex became aware of her observer.  
  
"What are you doing up?" Her voice was breathy with exertion.  
  
"Huh? Who me?" The young brunette was surprised by the sudden question, but was thankful for the intrusion as it had knocked painful memories of Runaways and Beds of Roses away…  
  
"Yes" The other girl answered amusedly.  
  
"You were thudding."  
  
"Oh, sorry." Alex responded, rather sheepishly, as she put the head phones aside. "So you're Buffy's sister huh?"  
  
"Yeah…that's me!"  
  
"How?"  
  
Dawn was caught off guard. "What do you mean how?"  
  
"I never heard, well… anything about mom having a sister." She answered, plopping on the couch.  
  
"I don't know exactly, long complicated story, I guess."  
  
"Ah, so you're not, like…"  
  
"A normal girl?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess."  
  
"Not unless you count a mystical key to a hell dimension made from the slayer by a bunch of monks as normal, no." Alex raised her eye brow.  
  
"You're kidding me."  
  
"I kid not!"  
  
"Whoa…that's heavy."  
  
"So if you don't mind me asking…do I know your father?"  
  
"My father?"  
  
"Yeah the guy who…well, y'know with Buffy and…bam there you were?"  
  
"That's not exactly how it went…" The young girl spoke amusedly.  
  
"Oh" Dawn was interested now. "So who was it?? Angel? Riley?"  
  
"Nuh uh. And who?"  
  
"Guess not then." An idea seemed to come to the young girl. "Xander??" Alex burst at laughing. "I'll take that as a no."  
  
"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you…" Alex responded grinning in a way that instantly triggered the image of another brunette in her mind. Dawn looked closely at the girl's features, the construction of her face, the bones, their shape…all reminiscent of one person, but how….  
  
"Faith?" Alex nodded a bit. "But that's absolutely impossible!"  
  
"I'd have to disagree, with me existing and what not. I was made from the same kind of energies as you, just in a different way."  
  
"So the prophecy isn't a load of crap?"  
  
"Didn't say that" The other girl responded, smiling. Dawn took a seat on the couch as the girls continued their late night discussion. "So how much does it suck that we have to hide huh?"  
  
"Eh, not like I could help much anyway."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Buffy's all overprotective, she never even lets me go out on patrol with her." The young girl sighed. "She could at least teach me some stuff."  
  
"What kinda stuff do you want to know?"  
  
"You know fighting stuff."  
  
"Stand up."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Stand up." Alex repeated slowly, smiling obnoxiously at the other girl. Dawn glared at her, as she obeyed. "Now put your hands out like this." She demonstrated. "Draw your fist back….no" Alex walked over and adjusted the fist, "Don't clench so hard, and keep your thumb there, protect it…ok, now punch…." The young brunette through a wild punch, throwing her entire body forward. "Um…yeah, this is gonna take some work…"  
  
***  
  
That night as the slayers slept, Buffy received what was hopefully the last of Faith's painful memories.  
  
A young girl, no more than 15, with dark hair stepped onto the stage. The room itself was dingy and dimly-lit and only the dirty faces of the men, dressed as though they had just been through a hard day at work, their clothes spattered with dust, dirt, sweat… (perhaps construction workers, although the light on the top of their hard hats, resting unassumingly on the tables, hinted more towards some type of mining) reflected in the low-swinging lamps. She closed her eyes. As the first note fell from her lips, the jaws of each man slipped a little lower on their face. It was a slow song with a twang of slide guitar and flow of an old jazz ballad. A strange, but enticing combination. The men for the most part seemed lost in her voice, but some looked at the girl quite differently. They watched her with appreciative and leering gazes, their eyes raking up and down. It was dusk outside and through the windows one could just make out the long stretch of desert-like nothingness. She was in the middle of nowhere, with no money to get where she needed to be. She finished her song on a   
low-sweet note and was applauded with stomping and cat calls. She smiled for her audience and the backing band now took the spot light, playing upbeat country tunes. Quietly, she walked toward the bar, taking a seat on the stool. The bartender, an older man probably in his late forties, walked over.  
  
"You've got yourself quite a set a pipes, little lady."  
  
"Uh, thanks…I kinda need that cash though."  
  
"Well I'm 'fraid, I can only give ya' 20,"  
  
"What? You fucking promised me 50."  
  
"I ain't got it. Slow night." Faith sneered angrily, that wouldn't be enough to get her through Arizona. He wheezed out a laugh. She considered beating that near toothless smile off his face and looting the register, but realized that the 12 minors would probably have something to say about her destroying the only source of food and entertainment for miles. "From the way those guys is been eyeballin' ya, I'd say you got yourself a sure fire way to make some cash" He wheezed again, polishing a tumbler.  
  
She looked at him, confused, until she turned and noticed the manner in which most of the men where staring at her. Could she really do that?  
  
A man, made bolder by their brief eye contact, strolled over and took a seat next to her at the bar.  
  
"Hey there…"  
  
She frowned at him and turned away. As felt something rubbing along her thigh, she whipped around, ready to break the man's hand. Instead of finger tips however, she saw five crisp twenties, remarkably clean compared to his work hardened hands. Closing her eyes she did something which she would regret her entire life, she proved her father right. She nodded to him, feeling quite defeated.  
  
***  
  
"Hello luv…" Spike answered cautiously, surprised at having found the vampiress waiting for him in his crypt. "Back again?"  
  
"Her fire, I can give you it, Ms. Edith knows the way…" Strangely enough, Spike immediately understood what the woman was getting at. "She dances, they dance together…"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Burning hot, bright fire…"  
  
"Who luv?"  
  
"The flames, they dance together…"  
  
"Do they now?"  
  
"Ms. Edith says I can have the other…"  
  
"Luv…" She looked him the eyes.  
  
"Her fire dances with another…sparking, flames…"  
  
"The slayer's?" Drusilla looked at him, affirmation in her wild eyes.  
  
"Ms. Edith knows, its in the stars, they are swirling for you, she can be yours…" Spike's eyes lit up and cocked his head to the side.  
  
"Ms. Edith told you, did she?" He smiled, or as near to it as he ever came, until he noticed two black demons bouncing excitedly on his favorite chair, their sharp claws digging into it.  
  
"Hey NOW! Not the leather ay?"  
  
"You want the fire…but your magic's is gone…stolen…"  
  
"Bloody chip…"  
  
"We read the heavens and they know, when your magic flies back to you, she will burn for you…and we can play with the other flame…"  
  
"How ? How do I get the chip outta me head?" He was more than intrigued…and if the touched vampiress spoke the truth, was saying what he believed she was saying, he was most definitely interested.  
  
"Shh…" She put her finger across his lips, swaying gently from side to side, eyelids fluttering. "Come with us, Ms. Edith knows songs that will call your magic back…" Without hesitance, he followed her as she lead him out of the crypt, the demons just behind them.  
  
***  
  
Buffy woke slowly to the feeling of her hair being pet. A pleasant feeling that reminded her of being a child held in her mother's lap, the security and the contentedness, things that had been lacking in her life lately. Still groggy, she cuddled deeper into who ever was producing the feeling, savoring and sinking into it, holding on to it as long as the last   
reminisces of sleep lingered. Her companion noticed the slight stir.  
  
"Morning B." The voice was soft and floated down and into her ear almost like a gentle caress.  
  
"unh" She grunted in sleepy protest, until she noticed the slight seriousness that lay in Faith's tone of voice. She blinked a bit and stretched, before peering up at the other girl with squinting eyelids. The brunette leaned down and kissed each puffy lid in turn, causing Buffy to blush and smile. She thought she saw it in Faith's gaze, an unconscious acknowledgement of last night, of the memory they had shared. She concentrated hard and was able to feel that the other girl knew, which was quite surprising. There really was no need for her to discuss it, only a lingering a question. Faith could sing like that? "What's up? You sound a bit worried or something……." She pushed out, around a wide yawn.  
  
"I'm gonna call the office…" Faith answered, looking to the side as she twiddled the business card between the fingers of her other hand.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah. I mean what if this is important shit? I owe her that, at least to call, I owe Maggie that."  
  
Buffy merely nodded. "Do you want me to stay?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Ok," With that Faith picked up the phone and dialed the number.


	12. The Taking

**PART 11: The Taking**

~Good morning, the law offices of Hendrick and James, how may we be of service? ~ A clearly English secretary boomed cheerfully on the other end. 

"Yeah, uh I had a question about Mr. Hendrick." 

~I'm sorry, he's on a very important trip for a client, but we have plenty of other~

"Um… actually, I had a question about what exactly this guy does."

~Mr. Hendrick, well he has quite a range of talents, he used to practice personal injury law… ~ Buffy watched nervously as the color drained from Faith's face.

"Yeah?" Her voice cracked. "Do you know uh…know what he did when he worked for Marguerite Thornstrom?" She was starting to shake a bit.        

~Mam, I'm afraid telling you that would violate the attorney-client privilege.~

"Oh, yeah"

~Can I ask your name, I will leave a message for him if you would like?~

"Um…" The brunette was so preoccupied at the mention of personal injury, she answered automatically. "Faith Ryan."

~OH MY GOODNESS!!~

"Shit"

~NO Ms. Ryan please don't hang up!~

"What does he want with me?"

~I'm not sure…but I do know it's very important, not just business, personally important that he find you.~

"Why?"

~I'm not exactly sure, but I believe it revolves around a probate…~

"What the fuck is that?"

~Please call him, it's…~ Faith's reply was non-committal, as she ended the conversation.  She stared at the far wall, seemingly lost in thought. Buffy chewed over whether or not to ask about the phone call.

"So what did they say?" She asked, making her voice as gentle as she could, not wanting to come across as intrusive. 

"Nothing really…she said she didn't really know what he wanted, that I should call him."

"Well, what do you think?" The blonde had her knees drawn up against her chest, and her chin resting softly atop them. She was watching Faith with a look of genuine concern painting her features.

The dark slayer smiled crookedly. "I think you're absolutely fucking adorable."

Buffy looked taken aback for a second, but laughed after collecting herself. "No avoiding the question."

"I'd argue that was a perfectly valid answer to 'what do you think?'. You've got to be more specific with your questions."  Faith shrugged, her eyes sparkling almost mischievously when she saw the blonde's eyes narrow just the tiniest bit.

"Ok then, are you gonna call him?

"I don't know. Maybe, I mean what if it's like a trap?" 

"We can take a couple of measly watchers…besides, the council has got all this money and high tech stuff, seems a lot to go through, why not just bust in?"

"Yeah… I guess" The brunette rubbed at the back of her neck.

"His story checks out so far, he is a real lawyer."  Faith half-nodded. "And no calling me adorable, if word gets out my reputation in the demon world would be shattered." The brunette had to laugh, because either that was delivered with deadpanned perfection or the blonde was serious.

"Hmm…what should I call you then B? Cute?"

"Nuh uh."  Buffy shook her head. "Same problem."

"Hmm…sweet?"

"Nope, see reasons stated above."

"Delightful?"

"I see you've made friends with Mr. Thesaurus, but delightful?… I think you just took that too far Faith."

"Probably." The dark slayer conceded smirking.

"A crime worthy of the ultimate punishment."  The younger girl merely raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what is that?"

"Tickle attack."

"B, absolutely not."  Suddenly the dark slayer's defenses were visibly up. 

"I'm afraid your fate has already been decided."  The blonde said shrugging just a bit.

"I'm serious Buffy don't you dare!"  A rather girlish screech echoed through the mansion followed by wild laughter and thuds as the blonde discovered just what happened when an extremely ticklish slayer is cornered.

*****

Spike awoke to a terrible throbbing pain in the back of his head, a pain greatly amplified by the brightness of a nearby fire. 

"Bloody Christ!" He croaked out, shielding his eyes and turning on his side.

"Spikey, do you feel it?" He recognized the voice.

"Dru?"

"Do you feel the magic? It came back." His eyes widened and his hands flew to the back of his head rubbing frantically. He felt a slight upheaval about halfway down the back of his skull. The raised skin was patterned with a series of three crisscrossing shapes.  Stitches he realized.  He felt a power surge in himself, a power that had been absent for quite some time.  He was ready; this time she wouldn't brush him off.  He would make her understand or he would end this torturous feeling that festered and ate away at him. He would have her or he would end her.  A man with a purpose, he was now that his limitations had been withdrawn. Drusilla seemed to notice this change and it caused a wilting smile to appear. "The flame, her flame… you feel it." He nodded firmly. 

She took his hand, the way the fire lapped in her empty pupils and reflected back into his said all that need be said between them. Two pacts were made, a pact with his former love, and a pact with himself.  

*****

Dawn jerked upward, jolted awake by a loud crash from upstairs. She glared, half with worry half with anger, at the ceiling as she sleepily forced herself out of the warm, comfortable bed. Two doors on the lower floor opened simultaneously and two not quite awake girls stared at the stairs leading to the upper level. 

"Did you hear that?" The younger Summers girl inquired.

"Yeah…you think they're ok?"

"I don't…" A scream echoed through the mansion followed by a loud bang as if something very large and very heavy had suddenly been heaved to the floor. As one, the two girls crept up the stairs, horrible and tragic scenarios, most quite improbable, racing through their young minds. However, no amount of imagination and paranoid thinking could have predicted the scene that awaited them… well at least as far as Dawn was concerned.

In the middle of the floor, surrounded by rumpled bed sheets were the two slayers.  Buffy was kneeling beside the younger woman who was lying, apparently not by choice, on the floor. Her hands were pinning Faith's struggling arms down by her sides. Now that by itself perhaps could have been passed off as a training session, possibly sparing. However any believability that the excuse may have at one time possessed was completely shattered by the fact that Faith's shirt had been pulled up and the other slayer was mercilessly blowing raspberries on the exposed skin of her stomach. The dark slayer had tears streaming down her face and was giggling wildly, an ability that only Alex knew she possessed prior to this incident.  The rather disheveled look about the blonde and the light red marks along her hands and arms served to demonstrate that the other girl had put up quite a fight before finally being pinned. Both Dawn and Alex were willing to wager, this struggle had caused the ruckus that disturbed their sleep.   

"I see you found her tickle spots." Alex commented, smirking.  Dawn's mind had yet to come up with something reasonable to say.

For the first time the two slayers noticed their company.  Buffy's head flew up, her eyes wide with shock; she pulled off the 'deer caught in the headlights' look flawlessly. As she stared blankly at Dawn a strand of blond hair fell in front of her face, which she made no move to fix. Faith meanwhile was dragging in ragged breaths, a little thankful for the interruption.  The pain of laughing so hard had been mounting and she was eager to reacquaint her lungs with wonders of air.   

"What?" The youngest brunette finally spoke. The blonde still stared blankly. "I…um…WHAT?" The reaction could have been worse, Alex supposed. It seemed more confusion than anything else.

"Um…we were just…" Buffy began…

"I know what you were doing." Dawn finished for her, not with anger, just dreamily as if she had just woken up and was not quite aware, which was consequently quite accurate.  She turned to the girl she had arrived questioningly. "How come you didn't tell me it would happen here too??"

"Uh… I wasn't sure it would."

"Oh."

"Wait…she knows about you?" The blonde questioned.

"We talked."

"So… you two are really like…" Dawn attempted to think of a word to express what she meant without sounding vulgar or ignorant.

Buffy sucked in a breath. "We're in love Dawn."

"Um…that's great…but I thought you had that whole arch enemies thing going on." Her confusion was quite obvious. 

"Um…I guess we got over that?" The blonde girl answered, smiling awkwardly. 

"Ah ha."

An awkward silence filled the room. "So you're ok with it Dawnie?"

The younger girl seemed to think it over. "Um…yeah, you know what they say, as long as you're happy. Besides more boys for me." Buffy looked shocked, but still unsure and Alex laughed. Faith being too tired to even chuckle, smirked instead. "I would have to say the most shocking thing was Faith with the giggling." 

Faith glared at the unseeing blonde, then spoke for the first time. "B?"

The blonde seemed visibly startled by the proximity of her companion, clearly having forgotten their somewhat questionable position. "Yeah?"

"Let me up already?" 

"OH… Oh god I'm sorry."  She quickly let Faith loose and stood, offering the brunette her hand.  She took it pulling herself up.  

"Hey no problem Buffy" She dusted herself off.   The blonde honestly expected a more fiery reaction. She knew she had gotten a bit carried away with the tickling. The brunette smiled almost sadistically, "I wouldn't sleep too soundly though."

*****

"Well we definitely know where we aren't." Buffy commented sipping at her French vanilla coffee and watching Faith's half eaten muffin. The brunette woman nodded, thinking as she cradled her tea. The blonde had always thought it strange that the other slayer disliked coffee. It seemed somehow out of character.  She realized that her mind was wandering and brought it back to the issue at hand. "Hmmm…" Her attempts to think were interrupted as her stomach continued to complain about the lack of morning sustenance. She continued to eye the other half of Faith's muffin.

"B, just take it."

"What?"

"The muffin."  The older woman looked sheepish, as the smiling brunette pushed the plate in front of her. "Why didn't you just get one at the register?"

"I wasn't hungry then"

"What a difference five minutes can make." The brunette laughed, as the other woman all but inhaled the poor baked good.

"Besides none of them looked as fully of tastiness as that one." She spoke around a mouthful of food, swallowing hard. 

"Of course not."

Buffy merely shrugged, licking the bits of cinnamon and bread from her fingers. They shared a smile, still contemplating their next area to search when they overheard a young female ordering. Not just any order, it was an iced coffee in the dead of winter…only one person they knew would be so bold as to order that. Faith raised and eyebrow and turned toward the register.  Sure enough, standing there bundled up with Tara was Willow. 

"Told ya my plan would work." Faith smiled triumphantly at the blonde.

"What plan? This is just plain luck." Buffy argued sipping her coffee.

"Not plain luck B, it's blind luck!" Faith pointed out, pushing in her chair. 

"Whatever" The blonde rolled her eyes. 

"Come on" 

"You think they'll believe us?" Buffy questioned in a moment of doubt. Faith shrugged.  They flipped their coats over their shoulders and followed the pair of young witches outside. 

*****

"Hey B, you ok?"  Faith questioned, looking at the blonde. She had been rather quiet since Dawn left the room.  They had moved to the bed, sitting silently on the edge.  The brunette had been picking at her nails waiting for the other girl to say anything.

"Yeah," She answered not at all convincingly. "She seemed OK with it right?"

Faith nodded. "I think she was just surprised." 

"Yeah." Another unconvincing response came from the older girl.

"Listen B, if it's bothering you that much, go downstairs and talk to the kid about it." 

"I guess maybe I should." She reasoned, noticing Faith seemed completely bored she added  "I'll come back up and talk to you about it afterwards." 

"Hey it's good, cause I'm fucking starving anyway. I'm gonna make a killer breakfast." A smile broke onto the other girl's face, as she cracked her knuckles. "You want anything?"

"Mm…yes on the food."

"Ok…you eat pancakes?"

"Most definitely."

"Cool, does the kid?"

"Dawn? Yes."

"Nice." 

"Alright, well I better go talk to her then."  The blonde said, pushing herself up off the mattress.  

"Yeah." Faith agreed, getting up too. Buffy seemed to be thinking something over as she remained in place for a few minutes. The brunette watched her curiously until she began walking towards her. "B?"

The blonde did not answer, but continued to advance on the other girl.  Faith watched her approach, her face a picture of confusion, until the other slayer leaned down and kissed her soundly.  

"Mmm…" Buffy smiled as the kiss broke. 

The brunette slowly opened her eyes, before speaking. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"I need a reason to kiss you?" Faith's eyebrow rose at the blonde's incredulous expression. Her face finally fell, as she relented. "Fine, it's for the revenge you're so NOT going to exact on me for the earlier tickling fiasco." She gave an almost pleading expression. 

The brunette spoke with complete composure. "I make no guarantees."  She cracked her knuckles, smiling that off-putting smile from earlier.  The blonde only eyed her warily in response. With that they made their way downstairs, Buffy subtly watching Faith out of the corner of her eye. 

*****

Two figures trailed another unnoticing pair down the street. "So how does this work exactly?" 

"I dunno." The brunette commented sipping her tea and adjusting her scarf. "I guess there are a variety of different ways we could do it."

"I'm all for the slow and cautious approach."

"Should I be brutally honest??"

"Nothing's ever stopped you before honey."  The brunette glared lightly. 

"I don't think it matters how the hell we do it, pretty sure they'll freak no matter how we introduce ourselves."

"I'd agree, but add that popping out at them from behind bushes or something is ill-advised."

"Uh, let me steal one from you here, DUH!"

"Shh you."

"You say that so much, have you ever noticed…"

"That it doesn't work?"

"Yeah"

"Yes, but I can still cling the hope that one day it will."  The blonde answered with a lop-sided smile. 

"Uh huh."  Faith answered, choosing not to comment further. 

"Besides if I really cared that you were talking, I have ways to silence you." The brunette raised an eyebrow.

"Those ways do nothing but change the kind of sound I make."  

"I'll give you that, but they do stop you from making those smart-alecky little remarks you're so fond of."  The brunette conceded with a nonchalant shrug and a grin.  "So…let's do it?"

"Here?? B, we're in the middle of the god damn street." The brunette ranted over-dramatically.

"Actually pervo, I was talking about the introducing thing." 

"Pervo?" The brunette appeared mildly offended. "I'll remember that."

The blonde merely smiled. "C'mon." Stowing their banter, they quickly closed in on the pair about five minutes from their shared apartment. Realizing they really had no plan, the blonde simply did the first thing that came to mind.  She reached out and tapped the red-headed girl on the shoulder. Willow slowly turned around. 

"Hey Wills,"

"Uh…" The witch's eyes looked as if they were about to fall out of their head. "Oh my gods, what happened to you two?"

"Hmm?" The blonde asked confusedly. 

"You look…" Tara began.

"Old, especially you Buffy" Willow finished. Faith scarcely contained her laughter, as the blonde's eyes danced with angry fire.

"Actually I was gonna say different." Tara mumbled under her breath.

"Is it a new demon-y thing?" Willow continued. "Have you two talked to Giles? We should find a way to stop it before it gets any worse." The red-head nodded emphatically, as she eyed the two of them.

The blonde cleared her throat, trying to hold back her anger. "Actually, we're Alex's parents. From the other dimension, we need you to take us to…um well…us."

*****

"… I'd never seen Buffy so embarrassed." Alex finished her story, smiling. Faith chuckled lightly, continuing to slice a variety of fresh fruit. "Are you sure you don't want help with anything?" The younger girl eyed the various ingredients set out along the marble counter.

"Nah."  Faith tossed some chopped potatoes into the sauté pan.

"So where'd you learn to cook anyway?"

"Never asked your mom?" 

"I did… I'm just wondering if it is the same story."

"After my parents died, I pretty much lived on my own, wherever." Alex began smiling and mouthing her words. "Same story?" Faith asked as she grated some cheese.

"Same story." The young brunette confirmed, putting on her imitation of her mother she finished. "A little Italian dive, downtown. Cook was real nice, let me stay with him for a bit, while I learned the ropes…  good ole Uncle"

"Uncle Tony." The slayer watched the girl, both unnerved and amused at the same time.  

"And the other three restaurants you worked in. Makes you uncomfortable when I do that doesn't it?" She commented grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl. Faith nodded as she stirred the pancake batter  "In all fairness to you this is a rather odd situation." She bit fully into the apple, smiling amusedly at the taller girl. 

The silence seemed to indicate that a change in subject was in order. "So you and the kid seem to be getting along well."

"Dawn?" 

"Yeah." Faith commented slicing some more potatoes and grabbing some spices from the rack, as she flipped the dishtowel she had been using over her right shoulder.

"She intrigues me."

"Oh, she INTRIGUES you." The slayer stressed the word.

"Yes…" Alex glared, catching the hint of mockery. "She doesn't exist in my world, I've never even heard mom or mama talk about her." She bit into her apple again, half-glaring.  "Exactly what are you trying to imply about me and my would be AUNT?"

Faith raised her arms in gesture that was supposed to convey her innocence. "Nothing. I was just saying you two seem to be getting along."  The dark slayer smirked almost devilishly. "It's weird that you're so defensive about it, though." 

"I am not being defensive." She tossed the apple core with deadly accuracy.  The slayer was unpleasantly surprised as it flew past her face and into the garbage can, missing her by mere millimeters. Rather than continue with any further teasing, Faith merely collected herself and continued to spice her home fries. 

*****

"WHAT???"  The red-head nearly screamed.

"What what?"  The blonde slayer asked confused.

"Whoa…"  The brunette rubbed her ear, trying to sooth it after the auditory assault.

"Whoa what?"  The blonde asked even more confused.

"Wait…" The red-head piped in again.

"Wait for what?"  The blonde asked even more earnestly than before.

"What?"  The brunette questioned, just now fully recovering from the loudness of Willow's reaction.

"What what are you what-ing over?"  The blonde asked, obviously lost.

"Huh?" Two confusion filled pools of brown turned toward their partner. 

"JUST STOP!" Willow, Faith, and Buffy turned to stare at the normally quiet and reserved blond-haired wiccan. "Sorry, but if you continued like that, I was afraid my head might explode."

"You… what… with the… and then…" Willow fumbled over her words, her usually agile mind obviously short-circuited by the implications of what had just been revealed. 

"You're gonna have to ask a question before I can actually answer it Red."  

"You two are her parents??" How far the witch's eyes were open was absolutely astonishing. "Like together parents…like you two together… with the loving each other ….and making babies parents?" 

"Uh, seems to me that's the way it went?" Faith answered, turning to her wife. 

"As far as I know." Buffy agreed, amused.

"But you… I… " Tara moved over taking Willow's hand and gently rubbing it. She gave the red-head a look that while not unkind, firmly told her not to say anything else.

The blonde witch said, taking over the conversation. "We can take you to… um you. In fact we were just headed there."

"She gonna be ok?" Faith nodded toward the red-head who looked half-way between a heart-attack and a fit of hysterical laughter. 

"She's ok, I think her systems just been overloaded."

The brunette smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Well I'm sure you can reboot her later." The blonde girl turned about ten shades of red, which gave Buffy some justification for elbowing her lover in the stomach.

"Oomph." Faith glared at the blonde, who merely smiled at her as they followed Tara.   

*****

"Wow! Faith this is incredible!" Dawn enthused, cutting another piece of pancake off and popping it into her mouth. She and Buffy were both feeling much better after their discussion. Faith had a mild curiosity about what actually was said, but was not concerned enough to bring the subject up.

"That's only cause you're used to Buffy's breakfast attempts." Alex chided.

Faith tried not to laugh openly, but failed miserably. Buffy's eyes narrowed at all three brunettes. "Why am I always the butt of your jokes? Pick on someone else for a change! And you should be defending me not laughing!" She protested, pointing a fork full of home fries at her sister slayer and then popping them into her mouth. She continued staring at Faith as if deep in thought, until a slight smile, mischievous,  broke onto to her face. Faith merely raised an eyebrow and after nothing happened over a period of about five minutes continued making small talk with the other two girls. 

This was nice. A small, good thing that she had never really done. Just sitting down and eating with people, that in one way or another were like family to her. She honestly was starting to feel quite at ease with these three girls, especially the beautiful blonde across the table. She smiled softly, talked and laughed when appropriate, but generally just enjoyed the overall normalcy of it and the contented relaxation that came with that normalcy. It felt right and easy, the way mornings were supposed to. 

The dark slayer was drawn out of her thoughts by the slightest of touches along the bottom of her left leg, as if something had just brushed it. She rubbed at her calf with her bare foot of the opposite leg, nothing. Shrugging it off she continued to eat and listen. Then she felt it again, firmer this time running up her calf almost caressingly, causing goose bumps to form and her abdomen to stir pleasantly. The long, linen tablecloth made it impossible to see what was going on. Having a good idea, she turned and stared at Buffy, who was completely engaged in conversation with Dawn and Alex. The feeling faded again. Confusion settled upon the dark slayer, as she began to eat, the feeling returned, this time moving around to both of her calves, moving higher, just brushing her outer thigh, around her knees. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment, before she looked across the table again. The blonde was still talking animatedly with the other two. Faith looked at the table, it was small enough for Buffy to reach her foot that far, quite a bit farther in fact. A look of worry began to cross her features and the touch moving higher, just barely brushing the tops of her thighs, five toes stroking, moving along her inner thigh now, about six inches past her knee, traveling slowly forward…

"Faith are you ok?" As soon as the words left Alex's mouth, the touch was gone and three pairs of concerned eyes turned on her. She sucked in a breath she had not realized she was holding. "You look a little flushed or something."

Faith did not miss the amused smiled that crept unbidden over Buffy's face. It had been a long time since she had been with anyone, a long time.  The blonde had caught her completely off-guard with her boldness, which worried the brunette. Had she lost all her game? Faith Ryan did not melt into a quivering pool of inactivity when advances were made, she was supposed to be the one making them.  

"Oh, yeah." She ran a hand through her hair. "Guess the food was hotter than I thought."

They all nodded, accepting the answer. 

"I'll take care of the dishes" Buffy announced. The brunette slayer watched her retreating form, deciding that it was high time she become and active participant in the game Buffy had initiated this morning. She waited patiently while Dawn and Alex took their plates in, finishing the last of the food on her plate. After they left the general vicinity of the kitchen, Faith walked quietly in, her footsteps easily masked by the running water of the sink. She stepped unnecessarily close to the blonde, her breasts brushing along the other girls back and just to one of her arms. She felt Buffy stiffen, as she leaned into her putting even more of their bodies in contact while placing her dish into the sink with the others. She kept her head at just such a position that the breath from her slightly parted lips fell across the other woman's ear and down her neck, which was now rapidly reddening. Drawing even closer, to the other girl, she whispered in her ear with a voice she knew the power of.

"Buffy?"

She cleared her throat. "Yes?" The unnatural highness, made the brunette smile.        

"I want you to remember something for me." She spoke low enough for the blonde to feel the vibrations.

"Uh huh?" She could practically feel the other girl's heart racing.

Adopting her sexiest and breathiest whisper, she moved so close that movement of her lips would be felt against the blonde's ear. "Turnabout is fair play." With that she withdrew quickly, and walked away whistling and leaving the shaken slayer alone at the sink. 

******

A figure paced across the pounded dirt floor of the mausoleum.  The prone form of a bleach blonde vampire lay a few feet away.  His over zealousness about the implementation of their plan so soon after the operation had drained him.  She was honestly not surprised. Though intelligent, he was often hasty and acted out of passion rather than direction. He was one of the more trusting demons she had worked with.  It took relatively little convincing for him to accept her in her manifest form.  This Drusilla, though complex, was easy to master.  If she spoke nonsensically, bringing in fragments from his memory, she was not at all difficult. He was also quite accessible psychically. His memories were given up with nearly no exertion on her part.  His tendency to keep to himself had proven helpful too.  However, most useful was his apparent love for the blonde slayer. He was an admirable ally. Strong physically, determined, passionate, and quite skilled in the art of fighting. He was a warrior and a warrior was the best defense against what was coming.     

Her thoughts turned back to the approaching event. The prophecy was so vague.  It was a problem not uncommon to prophecies; speak of the trouble not of the outcome.  Despite it's lack of clarity the prophecy had pointed a stunning finger at her enemy. The dark slayer (as her twin soul was nowhere to be seen she was unconcerned with that issue). The young woman with the fractured aura, so wounded and yet so incredibly and undeniably strong. Sighing in frustration, she beckoned one her minions forward. Telepathically she spoke…

The bond that you have created is to be broken…

Shall we create another? 

It would do no good I'm afraid, they know now how to undo it. 

Pardon my insolence, but how do you know? 

I feel it weakening

How can we be of service then? 

You and the others will come with me tonight.  You will distract them, especially the others.  Be quick, your purpose is not to fight only to occupy. If you are able, take the two energy sources…  but I need to a chance to dig further into the recesses our enemy's mind. The time is fast approaching, and we must win. 

We understand. Will you be bringing him? The small demon nodded toward the sleeping vampire. 

No, your presence alongside him would arouse suspicion. His time is soon, but not now. 

We will ready ourselves. 

You are dismissed He made a slight bow and returned to the lower level. 

She would appear in her true form, invisible to the eye and just barely detectable by touch, a slight lowering in temperature the only sign.  She could be a sudden gust or cold shiver, nothing more. 

Watching the flame of a nearby candle she whispered. "I'm coming… Faith." 

******

Faith walked through the mansion, exploring its many rooms and halls. She supposed, based upon the age of the building, that it would be more correct to call them chambers. They certainly looked like chambers, with their stone walls, expansive ceilings, and ornate chandeliers. She looked at the massive hard wood dining table and it's lengthy and regal tablecloth. Continuing her tour, she walked out on the balcony. It was certainly an interesting piece of architecture and she found herself thinking that there was something oddly fitting about a slayer living here.  Looking over the landscape, it occurred to her that something probably not too far beyond her current line of sight was right now planning her demise, as well as everyone else here's. A thought that she found quite depressing.

"Faith?" A voice called through the hall.

"In here!" She hollered back, wishing desperately she had a cigarette. 

"Hey there you are."   The blonde girl smiled coming out onto the balcony. "Wow, the view's even better in the daytime."

The brunette smiled. "Most views are."

The blonde stuck her tongue out at the unseeing slayer. "So what are you doing out here?" 

"Just checking out Fang's mansion."  She answered, distractedly. Movement from below had caught her attention. "Who are they?" 

Buffy squinted leaning over the balcony just a bit. "Wills and Tara, but the other two…" As the group of four reached the mansion door, a loud bell echoed from the bottom floor, followed by Alex's voice.

"I'LL GET IT!!"  The two slayers made their way down the stairwell, to meet their guests. "MOM!!!" The exclamation held the two slayers dead in their tracks mid-way down the flight. They turned to look each other in the eyes, mouthing the word. They cautiously continued down the stairs, peeking from around the railing. Faith eyes practically rolled out of her head. 

The two older women stared amused at the girls on the stairs, while hugging their quite excited daughter. 

"Hey there kiddo." The newly arrived Faith said, ruffling the teenager's hair. 

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked confused.

"Seems Willie made a mistake." Buffy answered, still more than a little angry at the contact. "We came to take you back." She announced purposefully. 

"Are we leaving like now?" The teenager seemed almost disappointed at this turn of events. 

"You're leaving?" Dawn asked having just come around the corner. Upon seeing the newly arrived guests, she froze wide-eyed. A similar, but more emotional expression had been adopted by the elder Buffy.

"Dawnie?" It was more of a whisper than anything else, further muffled by sobs that threatened to erupt from a tightened throat. 

******

Cordy sat quietly on the couch, nursing her glass of water. 

"Bad one?" Fred asked.

A simple glance was the only response that was needed.

"When you're ready Cordy." Angel encouraged.  Four quite concerned members of the Angel Investigations team were gathered around seer. They watched the woman for any sign of physical illness, unknowingly inching closer and closer. 

"Wow, with the personal space." She croaked out, shaking off the after effects of her vision. The foursome immediately fanned out to more comfortable intervals within the office. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Angel. "You need to go back."

Angel looked less than pleased, an expression that thankfully had become less frequent in his emotional repertoire as of a late. However, he nodded in his typically dutiful way. "How bad is it?"

"I'd said extra bad, the fate of mankind hangs in the balance bad."    

He only nodded again, while Gunn rubbed his hands together. "So suit up?" 

"No, only Angel." They all new better than to argue with Cordy, but it did not mean that they were happy with it. The vampire for his part looked not the least bit surprised. 

He clasped the brunette's hand with his and looked in her eyes meaningfully. "Call Faith" She nodded and squeezed his hand back.  There was something strange about the scene that aroused both suspicion and curiosity in the on-lookers, but nothing more was said on the subject.  Sensing that privacy was of some importance, the three now uninvolved people left the room. 

Seeing the question in his eyes, Cordy continued. "I saw you and Faith, fighting some small demons, and a larger one that was floating over what looked like a crack in the earth. You both about to leap over it or…." She paused  "into it." He looked down as if thinking hard, then suddenly noticed their fingers were still intertwined. She seemed to realize it to, but neither made a move to correct the situation. "Angel?" When she saw she had his full attention, she continued. "Be careful." The vampire looked deeply into her brown eyes and again nodded. After a few moments more of quiet contemplation between the two, Angel was up and in the weapons closet with car keys in his coat pocket. 

******

The living room of the mansion was filled with a silence so awkward and mind numbing that all of its eight occupants were now seriously considering screaming out some nonsense, just as a relief.  On a large couch sat the older Buffy and Faith, in between them Alex. The resemblance between child and parents was now so painfully obvious and not just physically.  Both her and her birth mother were idly tapping the thumb of their left hand on the sofa cushion.  This nervous fiddling was mirrored on the loveseat directly across from them by the younger Faith.  Both Buffys, one from the couch and one from the loveseat watched the almost hypnotic movement with the tiniest of amused smiles. Every so often however, the older of the blonde slayers would turn to look at Dawn, almost as if she were checking to make sure she was still there. Willow and Dawn watched the scene with expressions of quiet bewilderment. A soft cough from Tara turned everyone's attention uncomfortably on her. She looked nervously around, smiling slightly and then turning her eyes downward.  It was then that the older Faith noticed a sword learning against the fireplace.  

"Whose is that?"

"Mine" Faith answered, locking her eyes with her counterpart's. 

The older Faith, tired of sitting, stood and picked up the sword, unsheathing it. "Nice blade." She commented admiringly. 

"It's pretty sick" Faith, not surprisingly agreed. They stared at each other openly for the first time.  Eyes drew down their bodies appreciatively. Both smiled at the similarity of their clothing, leather pants and a white top. This caused groans and eye rolls from both of the blonde slayers. 

"I can't believe you two." The older Buffy began. The two brunettes looked slightly confused.

"You two were so just checking each other out!" The younger blonde finished disbelievingly, getting an approving nod from the other. The two women in question just shared a smirk. 

"What can I say, I age well!" The younger of the dark slayers said. 

The older woman, shrugged happily.  "I was a hottie." The younger Faith smiled cockily. 

"Still are."  

"I like this girl" The older brunette smiled and slung her arm around the still teenage version of herself. 

"Oh God…" The middle-aged blonde woman sighed over dramatically. 

"There's two of them" Finishing again for her clone, Buffy stared warily at the two grinning brunettes. Alex laughed out loud.

"This is like one of those horrible made for TV movies." Dawn whispered to Tara, who nodded with agreement. 

" 'My Stepmom is an Alien?' " She questioned conspiratorially. "Along the same lines." Dawn said solemnly. They watched the little quips and jokes passing between the four slayers still unnerved. That was until things became a little more serious.   It was quite disturbing on multiple levels for the girls.  

"Kiddo can we talk to you alone for a sec?" The older Faith questioned while her wife and Alex nodded. "Is there somewhere we could go?"

"Kitchen." The younger brunette slayer answered quickly. Alex nodded and the three of them left the room.

"Well that was interesting." Faith commented, looking over in Willow's direction. The witch had yet to move a muscle or even speak since they all sat down in the room.  "You ok Red?" 

Willow seemed to suddenly remember something at the mention of her name. "The spell!" She reached into her back pocket and produced the necessary ingredients. "I forgot all about it."

Buffy seemed to perk up. "You figured out a way to close it?"

"Not exactly."

At this point the younger Faith jumped in. "Not exactly?"

"It's irreversible."

"IRREVERSIBLE?" Buffy was near panicked. 

"We were with the researching and well, rather than opening a door in you mind, it's more like they tore the door of its hinges and chopped it into little tiny pieces." The redhead explained, gesticulating wildly as a result of her nervousness. 

"So you're saying?" The blonde woman prompted. 

"We can't stop you from picking things up. But we can do three things.  We can stop you from transmitting them, make it so that the other person has to give you permission, and erase the block on positive memories." Tara finished, taking Willow's hand in her own and stroking her thumb along it soothingly. 

"Good enough." Buffy answered. 

"We'll need you two to leave so the spell doesn't affect you."  The blonde wiccan added quietly, looking at Faith and Dawn.  They left with no argument and the two young witches set about casting their spells.   

*****

"So when are we leaving?" Alex interrupted, eager to be brought up to speed.

"When the sun goes down tonight, Wills says the magic can only be performed at night." Buffy answered.

"You look disappointed." Faith observed. 

"You and mama were a hoot as teenagers. Besides I'm getting to see you two fall in love." She overemphasized the last wording in a teasing manner. 

The brunette woman chuckled lightly and her wife laughed nervously, quite embarrassed.  

"The magic Willow gave us won't last beyond a few days. She told us the sooner we use it, the less likely it is we'll end up dying a horrible death in some hell dimension."

"Red's really focused on the hell dimension thing." Faith commented. Alex nodded in understanding, hopping on the kitchen counter and grabbing a piece of fruit. 

"How come you never told me about Dawn?" She asked curiously. "Does she not exist in our dimension?"

The blonde slayer looked completely shell-shocked by the question.  Faith watched her with a mix of tenderness and concern, as she gently worried her full bottom lip. She knew that look, a look that the blonde always got right before she was about to cry. Both women had always been shy and embarrassed about crying in front of each other, or in front of anyone for that matter. The brunette prepared herself to take the blonde in her arms should she need it. Alex looked apologetically at Faith, knowing she had just asked the wrong question. With a deep breath, Buffy turned to her daughter and answered the question in the only way she could think of. 

"Not anymore." The implications of the blonde's reaction solidified in a depressing realization for Alex. Dawn had died before she was born. Further questions raced through her mind, but she knew better than to ask. With her abilities she didn't need her mother to tell her how. She could scan it out, but now was not the time.  Buffy realized where her daughter's thoughts probably were and with a shuddery sigh, looked at her and nodded.    

Alex closed her eyes and received the altogether disturbing images her mother had been privy to. Visions of a bleached-blond vampire draining the life from the young girl she had spent the past few days with filled her mind. The most disturbing factor of all being that at the time of her death, Dawn looked exactly the age she did moments before when they were all sitting in the living room. A single tear fell from beneath her closed eyelids. 

*****

"Dawn…"

"Yes?"  The young brunette asked, watching the slayer who appeared quite nervous.

"Look… I'm not just apologizing cause I want you to be ok with me and B, well you know."

"Ok, so why are you apologizing and what for?" Dawn watched Faith curiously. This seemed to be coming out of the blue.

"I'm apologizing cause I… well, I don't want any bad blood between us… between me and anyone anymore. So, I'm sorry for back then, all that shit I pulled… y'know"

The sixteen year-old shrugged, and then smiled brightly. "Forgiven."

To say the brunette slayer looked surprised, would be quite the understatement. "You sure kid?"

Smiling at the nickname, she answered. "Yeah, if Buffy can forgive you, which she definitely has." She giggled a bit, remembering earlier. "Then I can, besides I always thought you were kinda cool." 

Faith smirked, chuckling softly.  "You did huh?"

"Still do. Cooler than Riley anyway." She rolled her eyes.

"Wow, cooler than farm-boy?" The sarcasm was light-hearted. 

"Not too hard I guess." Dawn agreed.

The slayer looked fondly at the girl. "You're pretty cool yourself." 

"Yeah?"  A smile reaching upwards of 1000 volts, graced the girl's face.

"Hell, if I had a sister, I'd want her to be a lot like you. B's lucky." Faith affectionately nudged the girl with her shoulder for emphasis. The two shared a smile and continued to make some idle chit-chat while they waited for Willow and Tara to complete the spell. 

*****

"How are you feeling?" Tara asked as she and Willow cleared the remnants of the spell.

"Remarkably close to normal." Buffy answered, brushing some powder from her forehead. She, like Faith, had noticed how odd Willow was acting. "What's up Wills?"

The redhead seemed to be struggling with her own thoughts.  "There's something I should probably tell you."  The conspiratorial manner in which the line was delivered, put the blonde slayer on instant alert. 

"What is it?" 

Willow took a deep breath, as Buffy and Tara looked on both quite confused. "Alex, she isn't just your daughter."

"What do you mean?" the slayer was instantly concerned. She couldn't be an enemy too? No, She would have noticed… 

"Well she's the daughter of both you and Faith, like you two are together, like couple-y together in the other dimension, that's why Faith was with alternate dimension you." She paused closing her eyes. Tara watched Buffy cautiously.

"I um…" Buffy's mind was desperately searching for a way to respond.

Seeing the confusion as she opened her eyes, Willow took what she thought was pity on her friend. "I know. I was shocked too." 

Despite the potential for a bad reaction, she felt no desire to lie. "I knew." 

"It must be hard for…YOU KNEW?" The redhead's eyes were as big as saucers.

"Yes.  It was one of the first things she told us." 

"And you're ok with it?"  The wiccan appeared genuinely disturbed by the information.  Sure she and Faith were at least being civil.  However, the ease with which her friend discussed this matter held implications that the girl was entirely uncomfortable with. Tara was mentally willing Buffy to realize the complete and utter badness of the timing.

"Um… actually Faith and I are well… we're in love, in the here too" As soon as she said it, she regretted it. The look on her friend's face made her stomach turn and her face fall.  Without a word Willow got up and proceeded to leave the room. "Wills wait…"

The redhead turned around and opened her mouth to speak.

"Don't honey." Tara said, standing up. "Go outside… I'll be out in a minute."

Buffy watched with saddened eyes her friend left the mansion, before the blonde witch's form obscured her view. Tara knelt down in front of her, and gave her hand a soft squeeze. The entire situation unnerved her.

"Don't worry, I'll t-talk to her."   The slayer nodded her thank you, squeezing back just slightly. As the other woman left to meet her less than happy girlfriend outside, the other five occupants filtered back into the living room.  Outside dusk began to fall.

******

Spike stalked through the graveyard smiling like a mad man.  His chip was gone and for the first time in quite awhile he was ready, willing, and able to feast, but first he had an errand to run.  After all he was quite certain there would still be plenty of teenagers stupid enough to still be out late at night.  He and Drusilla… reunited after quite sometime. With her help he could finally have what he'd been wanting for so long. He stopped at an unassuming house and kicked in the bulkhead, sauntering down the stairs. 

"Is it done?"  He asked, cooling lighting a cigarette.

"Yes, she's done."  The young man answered nervously. "Do you have the cash?"

Spike smirked and transformed. "I think not killing you is payment enough? What do you say?" 

"I… um." The young man shivered as the vampire growled softly, flicking the corner of his left fang with his tongue. "Definitely"

"Damn right." He commented. As the young man scrambled behind some equipment, Spike inwardly reveled in his newly regained ability to make good on threats.  He stared, stunned, as the young man's creation was presented.  It looked just like her. "Job well done.  How do you turn the bloody thing on?"

Warren gave the thing a poke to its mid-section and sea green eyes opened and it smiled upon seeing the bleached-blond.

"Hello, luv." He wanted to see if the dork had indeed programmed it in the manner he requested.

The robotic representation seemed to be processing something. "You're Spike"

"See it works!"  Warren proclaimed eager for the vampire to take his prize and leave. 

"You're evil and I find it sexy."  Perhaps it was not the most tactful robot, but that was not its purpose. 

"Do you now kitten?" He smirked off-puttingly.

"I can't resist the sinister attraction of your cold and muscular body." With a grin the vampire shut the facsimile of his slayer down and carried it off as quickly as he could, his desire for blood replaced by another of equal power. 

*******

"So I guess this is goodbye?" Alex said slinging the pack she had brought with her over her shoulder. 

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you." Dawn answered smiling sadly.

"Definitely." Buffy agreed gathering the young girl in a hug. Already shaken up by earlier incident with Willow, which she had yet to discuss, the blonde slayer was trying very hard to not loose it.  

"It was cool kiddo."  Faith added, ruffling her hair and then giving her a hug of her own.

"Aww… I'll miss you guys!"  The young brunette smirked trying not to get emotional.

"And it was nice meeting you two, after hearing so much about you." Buffy added smiling at the older versions of herself and Faith. 

"Well thank…" The older Faith was stopped mid-word as a veritable swarm of the black demons broke through the window and came full force at them.  

"SHIT!!" The young Faith yelled, bounding over two of the demons to grab her sword where it rested by the fireplace.  As she unsheathed it she felt herself knocked back quite forcefully, only stopping when the wall collided with her back. Dazed as she clutched her stomach, she glanced around and saw nothing that could have possibly been responsible for such a blow. 

Meanwhile, the three other slayers were quite successfully warding off a barrage of demons.  "Dawn, Alex get upstairs." The two Buffy's yelled at the same time.  The girls scrambled upstairs without argument. Each of the three remaining took on at least five of the small demons kicking and punching and easily knocking them aside, until they began to employ their powers.  

"AHH!" The older of the two blonde slayers clutched her head as her unaccustomed mind was forced to recall things long buried.  She flailed, throwing punches wildly, most connecting due to the sheer abundance of demons. The older Faith was soon to follow suit, her eyes closing in shock and her face contorted in pain. 

The younger blonde watched the scene in horror and did the only thing she could think off. Turning to the wall she ripped the mounted axe from it and began mowing down the demons by the tens, hoping that she would break whatever hold they had.  

Across the room, Faith found herself suddenly hoisted a good two feet in the air as an unusual sensation of coldness began wrap itself around her scalp.  Though quite unnerved, the young brunette found herself recalling the lessons Giles had taught her earlier. She didn't have to see it to feel it.  Closing her eyes and trying to calm her breathing, she reached out with her slayer senses and releasing a loud grunt kicked as hard as she could at the area that caused the strongest tingling. As a hiss sounded disturbingly close to her ear, she knew she had connected and as proof she fell to the ground. Quickly standing, she found herself sparring with a completely invisible enemy. Keeping her eyes shut, one thought echoed in her mind. Giles really did know what he was doing.

After she laid about 30 of the demons out with the axe Buffy saw that the other two slayers seemed ok again. She smiled until she felt something hit her in the back. She cried out and whipped her head around to find one of the demons that she hadn't quite put down for the count, had taken the opportunity scratch her.  It stared deep into her eyes and without a second's hesitation she swung the axe thereby dislodging its head from its neck.  A thick purplish blood, splattered onto her arm and stomach.  As the next wave launched at them, claws slashing, the older Buffy and Faith followed her lead as they too ripped the decorative medieval weapons from their mountings.  The demons only got a few, though quite painful, hits in from then on in.

After an intense exchange of blows, Faith finally felt she was gaining some real ground. She blocked a kick, she threw the being, she blocked a punch, and she threw a punch, which was unexpectedly caught. The brunette slayer felt herself being pulled in and a sudden coldness on the right side of her chest, which traveled up her neck and around her head.  She tried, unsuccessfully, to pull away but the grip was like iron. A breathy, wind like voice sounded inside her, seeming to bounce around her mind before she fully comprehended its meaning. 

"You can't win." And with that a pulse of blue light erupted from the center of Faith's chest throwing her clear across the room. As soon as this occurred, every demon stopped and retreated just as quickly and unexpectedly as they had entered.  

The younger Buffy had turned just in time to see her girlfriend fly across the room and connect solidly with the stone wall.  Stumbling over to the girl who was coughing and seemed quite short of breath, she dropped to a sitting position.

"Faith, are you… God, are you ok?" She croaked out, rubbing the brunette's back.  Another series of coughs and gasps, though more subdued than the first, came from her. Finally catching her breath, she ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"Yeah…" She calmed down a bit. "Yeah I'm fine B…" As she turned to face the blonde, she saw a small puddle forming behind the woman. "Shit Buffy, you're bleeding." Worriedly she crawled behind the girl, finding a large wound on her lower back still seeping blood.  Stripping off her top she pressed it firmly against the wound.  

"You're hurt." The rather large bruise forming just below the brunette slayer's right shoulder concerned Buffy. The blonde slayer reached out and caressed the shoulder just near the injury, while Faith continued to hold the shirt firm and staunch the bleeding. They stared into each other's eyes. 

"FUCK" They heard the yell from upstairs and recognized the voice as belonging to the older Faith. They heard two sets of feet stampeding down the stair well. The middle-aged women stopped at the bottom looking near panicked. The brunette pushed out words, between her clenched teeth. "They came in upstairs too…" Taking a deep breath she continued as she cradled a familiar hunting knife in her hand.  "They have Alex and Dawn."

******


	13. Long Nights

**PART 12: Long Nights**

"What the fuck do we do?"  Faith asked worriedly. 

"What can we do?" Answered Buffy.  "We don't know where they are or how many of those demon things there are…"

"And you two aren't looking in any shape to fight."  The older brunette commented, looking at the bruised and bleeding girls. Her and the elder blonde had a few scratches, but nothing of comparable severity. "Looks like we wait till morning"

"I hate waiting" The younger brunette mumbled as she attempted to stand up, only to have a powerful wave of dizziness overwhelm her. Shaking her head slightly, she rubbed her temples. 

The pained silence bearing down on them, was broken up by the shrill ring of a nearby cordless. Getting up more slowly  (this time with success) Faith fumbled with the phone for a second before getting it on. The others waited patiently. 

"Hello?" 

Faith.

"Oh hey C"  There was a change in the atmosphere of the room, a little of the tension dissipating. 

Angel is coming.

"What? Why?"

I had another vision. He was in it this time, you two were fighting this demon energy thing.

"The two of us were? Me and Angel?"  She was stunned as fragments of the prophecy flew through her mind… a warrior of night that stands at her side… twin soul…

Yup.  He'll be there tomorrow

"Oh, thanks for the heads up!"

Hey are you ok?

"They got 'em C"

What?

"The two girls."  There was a certain hopeless, defeated quality to her voice, which worried the seer and everyone else in the room.

Oh no…

"I got to go." 

Faith… 

"Yeah?"

Be careful. Ok?

"You know me."

Bye.

"Bye"  She hung up the phone a heaved a deep sigh before stating the obvious.  "This is so fucking bad."

******

Tara sat on the end of the bed watching a dejected Willow stewing in her anger. Sighing as she collected herself, she voiced what had been bothering her since Faith first returned. "I honestly don't understand this."

"Huh?" The redheaded witch looked up, her green eyes meeting concerned blue ones. 

"Explain it to me Wills, cause I don't understand at all."  The blonde was obviously quite bothered and her girlfriend took notice.  She moved closer. 

"What don't you understand?" 

"Why?" Willow understood instantly. Sympathy for the dark slayer was the really the last thing she wanted to deal with right now, but she tried to keep any harshness she was feeling out of her voice.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again! She's evil, Tara."

"No, if that were true she w-wouldn't try as hard as she is to m-make things right." The blonde answered quietly, nervously. Anger was never an emotion she felt at ease with, not even when it belonged to her.  

"You didn't see her before."  Willow answered, doubt creeping into her voice. "She killed people, she held me at knife point… with a knife! I'd say that's big with the evil!"  Stopping for a second she added "She doesn't deserve any of this! Especially Buffy."  

"Y-you're trying so hard to m-make yourself believe that…. And th-that's what I don't understand." Again the words were spoken quietly, nervously. Confrontational situations were extremely difficult for her to deal with. "Why?"

"Because she…" The redhead deflated, any righteousness in the words she was about to say quickly faded. "I don't know."

Tara silently thought over the situation, looking for any angle she missed.  She was sure that it was more than mere jealousy and anger.  She's considered the fact that maybe the two girls just rubbed each other the wrong way, but it seemed more than that too. In all honesty, she just didn't understand. 

"You can tell me anything you know…" She tried. Her nervousness had faded with the other witch's anger.  Reaching over the small distance between them, she took Willow's hand in her own. "Anything."

"I…I know."

******

"B keep still."  Faith commanded, leaning over the wounded girl.  They were in the upstairs bedroom, where they had been staying the past couple nights. The older versions of themselves had taken up residence in Alex's old room, tending to their few scratches.  After all, infection is a very real danger when one fights as much as slayers do.  Buffy was lying on her stomach, shirt removed for the sake of ease, while Faith diligently worked at cleaning the wound on her back. 

"I'm trying!" She answered somewhat aggravated. Willow was angry with her, they had been attacked, Dawn and Alex were gone, and now Faith was doing things that stung and telling her not to squirm.  All in all? Not a great day and the night wasn't looking too promising either.

"It's not that bad… not bad enough to need stitches anyway."  The dark slayer stretched the truth a bit for the other.  The reason that she didn't need stitches was not because the wound wasn't that severe, but rather the angle at which the claws had made contact.  It looked like the demon had taken off the first few layers of skin.  As such the wound resembled a deep and rather large skinned knee. To Faith, it seemed more like the blonde had been whacked with baseball bat covered in heavy grade sandpaper than scratched. Maybe she wasn't then… maybe the skin on those demons was a lot rougher than it looked. "Its gonna be tender."  

Buffy watched from her position on the mattress as the girl got up and made her way to the vanity, gathering up some gauze, medical tape, and whatever else she needed.  The brunette was still shirtless, and the blonde couldn't help the goofy grin that formed on her face as she traced the lines of her taunt stomach and the exceptionally nice way her breasts rested in that black bra which oddly matched her leather pants…Faith looked damn fine in leather pants… Faith looked damn fine in general. Better than damn fine, she looked beautiful.  Maybe tonight wouldn't be so terrible…

Catching the stare, the brunette only raised an eyebrow as she stood still a moment. "Don't get any ideas B, I'm not done fixing you up yet." She warned, popping open the case of medical tape and bandages as she made her way back to the bed.  

"You spoil all my fun" She pouted and Faith chuckled.  Humor was the best remedy for tough situations they say…

"I said yet… there'll be time afterwards." She smirked, expecting the blonde to blush or at least be embarrassed.

"I'm holding you to that."  Perhaps Buffy still had a few surprises up her sleeve.

"…I…" Instead it was the brunette who was getting all flustered, much to her own chagrin. 

"Faith, relax" She responded, chuckling softly. 

Carefully dressing the wound, the younger woman coughed before changing the subject "Sit up, if you want this to stay I'm gonna have to wrap it around all the way." 

Obediently Buffy sat up, trying desperately not to react to the feeling of Faith's bare skin touching hers. Her fingertips were softer than the blonde expected them to be. Apparently it was a losing battle because as soon as the brunette secured the bandage, the blonde slid her hands over the other girl's.  

Silently she watched the two pairs of hands now sitting in her lap.  Faith seemed surprisingly ok with it and even moved to accommodate by stretching her legs out on either side of the girl, giving her room to get comfortable. Buffy rubbed her thumbs over the skin on the top of the brunette's hand, as she asked a question that had been swimming restlessly in her mind searching for some sort of absolution. 

"Do you think she's ok?"

"Dawn?" Faith's voice was gentle and soothing and sounded almost foreign coming from her.

"Both of them." 

Perching her head on the blonde girl's shoulder, she answered. "Yeah I do and we'll get them back. I'll get them back, B. I promise."  The determination in the slayer's voice was strangely reassuring. A comfortable quiet hung about them for a few more minutes.

"I told Wills."

"Oh did you call her? Can they do some location spells or some shit?" Although that was not what she was referring to, Buffy stored the useful information for a later date. 

"Not about them."

"Then what did you…oh" The blonde slayer felt Faith swallow hard against her shoulder blade. "How'd she take it?" The other girl's silence was answer enough. 

Buffy felt the brunette tense and try to withdraw, so she tightened her hold. "Please don't."

"B maybe this isn't…" The dark slayer looked down.

"Don't finish that sentence. Cause it is."  Turning around slowly (so as not to upset her wound), the blonde caught Faith's eyes. "I know it is… cause I love you."

"I…" Looking into the eyes of her now girlfriend, she swallowed the uncertainty mounting at the back of her throat. Maybe it wasn't so ridiculous to think this could last.  Hell, stranger things have happened she found herself thinking.  However, the uneasiness would not die.  It swirled about her stomach, mimicking the flight of a butterfly.  "Red's your best friend though…"

"I know and that's exactly why she'll be ok with it…Eventually."  She added as an afterthought. Granted Buffy was upset that Willow had reacted badly, but she never considered it would end their friendship, not after all they'd been through.

Heaving a sigh and looking down, Faith continued with a raw vulnerability that tugged at her sister slayer's heart. "I just don't want to screw it up again…"

"I don't think you will, I think…" She paused. "Faith, look at me."  The brunette reluctantly obliged.  "I think we're finally getting this right."  Buffy cupped her girlfriend's cheek as the brunette blinked away forming tears with frustration.  "Trust me… " She inched a little closer. "It'll work out." Repeating Faith's earlier words, she finished with a smile. "I promise." 

"Yeah?" The brunette smiled a bit.

"Yeah." The blonde agreed, leaning in for a kiss.

******

Outside the room two figures watched quietly, smiles on their faces.

"Well done B."  The brunette woman congratulated the blonde next to her.

"I'm certainly proud." The woman answered, she turned to her partner wearing a lop-sided grin. "Never knew I was good with stuff like that."

"Come on, you're wicked good at stuff like that."  The older Faith answered, nudging her Buffy affectionately with her shoulder.

"Aww, thanks…" She smiled, putting her arms around the taller woman's waist. "Y'know" she began "I think they got the right idea… I could stand to forget a little while too."  The last part of her sentence held an air of melancholy. The brunette smiled somewhat sadly at her and nodded.  They made their way down stairs. 

******
    
    The candlelight really did nothing to counter the dank atmosphere of Spike's crypt. Pillars stood, clearly outlined as well as a single well-used armchair.  On the floor two figures, a man and a woman, lay on their sides. He spooned her from behind, his arm resting on her side, while a pink fitted sheet covered them. The man's hair was in a complete state of disarray making the activities of the past hour or so apparent.
    
    "You're evil." She said, quite matter-of-factly.
    
    Containing a smile, he answered in a manner he knew her programming would accept. His object being to preserve what little realism the situation possessed. "And that excites you?"
    
    ]
    
    "It excites me, it terrifies me ... I try so hard to resist you and I can't." Perhaps not the way she would have actually phrased it, but the message was exactly what he so desired to hear. She wanted him. 
    
    Grinning, only half at her words he questioned, "Yeah?"
    
    "Darn your sinister attraction." It was said with a sauciness just slightly overdone. 
    
    Becoming serious, he asked something that he had been quite concerned over as of late. "Are you afraid of me?"
    
    With an exaggerated smile, the robot responded in the affirmative. "Yes".
    
    Thinking on her answer, he continued quietly. "You know I can't bite you." It was still true, regardless of the fact that the superficial source of his restraint had been extracted.  Spike could never, if it did actually come to it.  He knew, despite the ego blow it caused, that he would have to end her in a far less personal way… a way where he could forget or pretend.
    
    "I think you can. I think you can if I let you, and I want to let you. I want you to bite me and devour me until there's no more." He was somewhat surprised by the answer, but only faltered a moment before falling back into the world the bot created for him.
    
    Smiling he complied, biting lightly, gently at her neck. "Like this?"
    
    The robot version of the slayer answered his smile with a bright one of her own. "Oh, Spike, devour me!"
    
    "All right." He conceded, laying her on her back and coming over her.
    
    "Spike, I can't help myself. I love you." She was so achingly close real, so achingly close to being Buffy and she loved him. 
    
    Expressing feelings that refused to dim, even with his newly restored vampire status, he said simply. "You're mine, Buffy". He was losing himself in the fantasy.
    
    "Should I start this program over?" In that instant, with those words it all shattered, as did his smile.  This wasn't the slayer…
    
    Attempting to salvage the remnants of his shattered illusion, he hushed her. "Shh! No programs. Don't use that word. Just be Buffy." The pleading in his voice was barely concealed. The blonde robot only smiled. 

******

"So this pretty much sucks huh?"  Alex commented, kicking a small pebble in Dawn's general direction. She sighed heavily, testing the bonds on her hands for the umpteenth time to find them still quite secure. This was most definitely not good.  The prophecy was seemingly accurate, which was to say the least distressing as that would point towards her and Dawn being sacrificed. A less than pleasing idea…  

"Yup."  Dawn agreed, attempting not to freak out.  Not only had she been abducted by extremely creepy black demons, which were at this moment staring at her, but they insisted on leaving a record single on constant repeat. It was some old song, not unpleasant, but after the 50th time it was beginning to get on their nerves.  To make matters worse those same demons insisted on humming in a strange little robotic way to it. 

"Look, I don't mean to intrude or anything, but can you shut that damn thing off!" Alex had had it with this. If she was going to be held captive the least they could do was not annoy her. It was only polite after all. Besides that, she was reasonably sure that she was close to developing a facial tick. The demons did not even make the slightest movement to acknowledge they'd heard her. They merely continued to hum and returned to what looked like grooming each other.  

"They enjoy 'Twilight Time'. They find it soothing. It helps them to clear their minds and focus." Ah yes! 'Twilight time' was the name of the song. She knew she'd heard it before but that wasn't important. What was important right now was that the voice had seemingly come from nowhere. 

"Who's there?" 

"You needn't concern yourself with that."

"Uh huh. Translation: you're that crazy demon." Perhaps she was giving it a little sass, but she was well aware that for its plan it needed her alive. 

"I said… you needn't concern yourself with that."  The voice itself was rather strange.  It was discernibly female, but sounded almost as if it had been filtered through air or carried on the wind. It made the tiny hairs inside her ear tickle.

"Well then what need I concern myself with?"  The silence that greeted her was somewhat unsettling, until it was disrupted by the sounds of the record player skipping back to the beginning.  The string introduction began.

_Heavenly shades of night are falling; it's twilight time.  
Out of the mist your voice is calling, it's twilight time___

Sighing she yelled out exactly what Dawn herself was thinking.  "Could you at least turn it down?"

_When purple colored curtains mark the end of day,  
I hear you, my dear, at twilight time.___

******

Downstairs two figures lay silently on a queen-sized mattress upon covers still unmade from the night before. Next to them sat a small backpack filled with random items, some logical, some not that logical, packed as preparation for their daughter's trip. One of the figures sat idly toying with the hand-carved wooden handle of a hunting knife. The other stared motionless at the ceiling.

"It's not your fault Faith." The body language of the brunette had spoken volumes. A small noncommittal grunt was the only response from the slayer. Her partner's mood had become noticeably and increasingly heavy ever since they had entered Alex's old room. The blonde placed the blade gently on a nearby bedside table, before rolling on her side to face the other woman. "It isn't."

"I was the one who was all cool with sending her here, you thought it was a bad idea from the beginning B." She spoke quietly and matter-of-factly. Moving the backpack, Buffy scooted even closer to the slayer, sitting cross-legged next to her lover's head.

"And you were supposed to realize that Willie's message was alcohol induced before he even knew?" She asked as she ran fingers through dark brown tresses. 

"You did…" Faith answered, a shame lingering in her voice. 

"I didn't. I'm just overly cautious." The blonde woman responded playfully. "I'm still the same girl you met all those years ago, it's just the stick up my ass is slightly shorter, which is actually of the good because it makes sitting much more comfortable." 

Chuckling silently the brunette looked at Buffy.  "Have I ever told you you're wicked strange B?"

"You're not exactly Miss Normal USA" The blonde smiled at her mischievously.  "Eh that's OK though, I like you the way you are, even if that means I'm married to a biker chick with a teenie bopper soul."

"Y'know I'm desperately seeking comfort and all your giving me is names and jabs. You called me a pervo earlier and NOW you make fun of my appreciation for NKOTB???" She questioned with mock incredulity.   Feigning hurt, the brunette turned on her side giving the blonde the cold shoulder. "… I think there's a couch in the living room with your name on it," 

"Aww baby, they were very talented. Much better than any of those other copy-cat boy bands…"

"Damn straight." Faith muttered to herself, smiling.  However it quickly faded as her mind brought back all the feelings that had been floating around inside her for the past hour. Buffy watched as the other woman's shoulders fell and her entirely body seemed to sink hopelessly into the mattress. Sensing it was time to be serious again she cuddled up to the brunette, using her slightly higher position on the bed to counteract her height disadvantage as she held her wife.

"Alex doesn't blame you and neither do I," She said softly against the other woman's ear. "They don't either you know."

"Buffy if I hadn't convinced you she'd be fine here, hell if I'd just thought about…" The blonde chewed her lip worriedly.  Faith only used her full name when she was truly serious.

"Faith you've saved her life more times than I could count…"

"So it's ok that I ended it." She finished with a somewhat defeated quality, which sent a cold shiver down her partner's spine.  

"Don't you dare get pessimistic on me… not about this." Faith had known she was entering dangerous territory with that comment but she couldn't reign in her lack of confidence.  "We'll get her back" There was steeled conviction in the blonde slayer's voice. 

A prolonged silence filled the air, as both women lay lost in thought.  "I just don't think I could fucking take it Buffy, if something … if she… and especially if it was because of me…"

"Nothing that happened was your fault, if there was any fault it belongs with Willie." 

"I could have fought harder or something, I could have done…" The brunette felt herself being turned over and forced to face the blonde as she spoke. "…Something"

"Faith there wasn't anything you could have done, and none of that matters, the only stuff that matters is what we can still do now. We'll get her back, baby, both of them. I promise."

"Yeah?" The dark slayer smirked a bit at the familiarity of the situation.

"Yeah." Buffy smiled bringing her lips to the other woman's. They shared a soft, gentle kiss, which was soon proceeded by far longer, far deeper kisses, kisses that were not confined merely to lips, kisses that only served to strengthen their need for each other, for physically. 

Drawing in a shuddering breath, Faith looked at the ceiling with darkening eyes.  "Y'know that forgetting you mentioned earlier?"

"Mmm hmm?" The latter part of the response vibrated against the sensitive skin of the younger woman's neck, causing her eyelids to momentarily flutter and low, soft moan to rumble from her chest.  The brunette found it difficult to construct coherent strings of thought as her partner positioned herself on all fours over her, a hand now joining her lips in their exploration. 

"I…we should…uh… BUFFY!" Smiling at Faith's reaction, the blonde retracted her hand. Deciding against teasing the other woman any further, she simply leaned down. In between nibbling and kissing her ear, she chuckled soft and low before answering with a definite smile. 

"I think that's a fine idea."   

******

"So did it hurt or anything?" Faith asked, stroking her fingers gently through blonde hair. Buffy's head was cradled in crook of Faith's un-bruised shoulder as she lay on her side cuddled up to the other girl. It was incredibly soft and the shampoo she used had a strong, but pleasant smell.  The brunette was finding the scent and velvety texture quite relaxing.  

"No, it kinda feels like getting goose bumps." She answered, rubbing softly with the hand that lie on the dark slayer's bare ribcage.  They had yet to leave the bed since her wound had been cleaned. Neither girl bothered to get another shirt, theirs having been sacrificed to the fight.

"Still glad they didn't have to cast one on me."  There was something necessary about the physical contact between them, though they had no knowledge of why.  Perhaps it was about comfort, perhaps about quiet or forgetting… either or, it was needed. A comfortable silence surrounded them as they just lay together. "B?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you OK with Angel coming?"

"If Cordy had a vision that he should be here, well I can't argue with the PTBs" The little blonde shrugged against Faith's shoulder. 

"I mean do you want… we don't have to tell him about us or anything if you don't want to is all I'm saying."

"Why wouldn't I want to?"

"I don't know." However, the look in the brunette's eyes said otherwise.

"I'm with you, not him." Buffy's face was a picture of confusion. "If you don't want me to tell him I won't, Faith."

"No, I'm ok with it, mostly cause he already knows how I feel about you."

"Does he?" The blonde turned surprised eyes to her partner.

"He called me on it. We talked…" Sighing, Faith looked at the ceiling. "I just don't want it to mess things up between you two."

"It wouldn't, and there really isn't the two of us anymore. We pretty much realized it's never gonna work when he left for LA. Honestly, I'm much more worried about the telling Xander."

"Really?"

"I mean you two have like a history"

The brunette chuckled softly. "One night isn't a history B, if anything it's a footnote. Besides, I somehow can't see him really being bothered by it… at least not in the way you meant."

Buffy's expression was half disgusted and half amused. "Ew, but no I guess I can't really either." 

Looking nervous, Faith asked another question she had been concerned about since pretty much the origin of their relationship. "What about your mom B?"

"I don't know yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Watching her girlfriend, the blonde was taken aback by how uncomfortable the other girl seemed with the idea. "You don't want to tell her?"

"I just… I've never had to meet the parents before."

Buffy laughed softly. "You've met my mom, she's not that bad."

"No your mom's cool B, but the Summers women, well they are dangerous when crossed, hell even the kid has already got the glare down…" The blonde leaned over, chuckling softly and kissed Faith's lips, before settling back into her arms. Again they rested silently with each other for a bit.

"Faith?" 

"Mm?" 

"If you had a choice… would you be a slayer?" Buffy asked it with some hesitance.  She thought about it often, but maybe it wasn't even a question for the other girl. She waited quietly while Faith considered the question.

"I don't think so."  She answered quietly, with a lack of certainty that calmed the blonde's fears.  "It's too much sometimes y'know… maybe I don't do it right or whatever, but sometimes… I just wanna screw up and know that it'll be ok, but I dunno…  I'm a slayer, it means I screw up and people die, I know that now" she added that last part quietly "… I miss my mark or I get my ass kicked or can't hold my own and it could like the big ending… it's just too much" 

"Yeah, I know. I wouldn't be one either." The shorter woman said almost shamefully, but in agreement as she began nudging at the other girl's ankles with her toes.  They had long since kicked off their shoes and pushed off their socks, so the foot now creeping into the brunette's pant leg was bare.

"Your feet are wicked cold." Faith commented.  However she made no indications that she had any intention of moving.

"Your legs are warm" Buffy answered smiling a bit and inching her foot just a little deeper inside the leather. Snuggling closer she added as a whispered afterthought. "Your entire body is warm." 

She felt that heat on her hand and in every place where their bodies were in close proximity. It wasn't uncomfortable, just pleasant enveloping… like a blanket on a winter's day. She remembered Angel at this moment, how cool his skin was, how strange it felt to touch, what it served to remind her every time they were close.  Riley had been warmer, but not soft, not as comfortable, not like Faith. 

The brunette was meanwhile willing the blonde not to look up, for fear she'd see the slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. It was odd, at least in the brunette's opinion that Buffy could make her blush. She could not remember ever blushing about anything.  She felt her face grow redder as the smaller girl stretched slightly against her side and then cuddled even closer to her.

"Faith?"

"Yeah B?" The brunette answered, trying to ignore the stirring that the feeling of Buffy's breath on her neck was causing.

"Do you hear that?"  

"What?" She listened intently, instantly more alert.  A small sound could be heard, not loud enough to identify. "Yeah…"

They both sat up a bit more, heads cocked to the side, focused expressions on both of their faces as they disentangled themselves from one another.  

"Do you think one of those little demons could still be in the house?" the blonde asked cautiously.

"I don't know B" Slowly the brunette padded to the heavy oak door that closed off the bedroom from the rest of the house.  Buffy sat upright on the bed preparing herself to rush downstairs if need be. Faith inched the door open, the sound becoming clearer with each creak of the old hinges. 

"UHHHhhhhhhhh" Both girls' eyebrows shot upward (though for entirely different reasons), as the distinctly audible groan filtered into the upstairs room. The huskiness of the sound gave no doubt as to its owner. 

The blonde slayer was up and ready to go on the offensive within seconds, whereas the brunette was standing still holding the door handle a blush painting her features and the beginnings of a smirk twitching on her lips.    

"Jesus, we should have checked the mansion. We better get down there Faith, before those demons…"

"OH GOD…UH"  This time it was slightly louder, an unmistakable grunt added to the end.  

"…Give alternate dimension you an incredible orgasm." She finished, an embarrassed and surprised look adorned her features.

"BUFFY!!!" Both girls could have sworn that the echo from the scream hung about and bounced off the walls for a full ten minutes, which was only half the amount of time that a deep red occupied their cheeks. 

******

"This is the longest FREAKING night of my entire life." Dawn grumbled, slumping to the pounded dirt floor. As the record player yet again skipped to the beginning, an overdramatic sob erupted from her crumpled form. "Kill me." 

"No good, can't reach you." Mumbled the other brunette against her forearm.  She sat a good three inches away and moving more than a millimeter was strictly out of the question. Her head rolled and drooped lethargically, against the crossed arms that rested atop her knees.  Bloodshot eyes were thankfully hidden by the shadows of the cave.  

"This is worse than my US History class…" The younger Summer's girl commented, staring at the ground. "OH! Another pretty rock." The excitement was obviously born out of over-tiredness.

"Yeah? Kick it over here." Dawn lazily kicked the stone in the general direction of the other girl.

"That is a pretty rock." Alex agreed, nudging it into the building pile of 'pretty rocks' they had accumulated over a period of time the two girls would have estimated as decades, but was in actuality about four hours.

She watched Dawn, as the girl lay seemingly lost in deep thought.  "You know it's too bad we aren't outside and near a highway or there would be various travel games to play…'cause even the license plate game is sounding like big fun right about now."

Alex chuckled softly, drawing idly in the dirt with her booted foot. "Having my arms slowly and painfully torn from my body is sounding like big fun right about now…"

"Or going deaf…" 

"Yeah that would probably be more enjoyable…" She agreed as the record skipped to the beginning again. "Even desirable."

"Definitely…" Dawn nodded in concurrence, her eyes lids slipping lower with the heaviness of them.  "I guess being made of mystical stuff has its drawbacks, what with making me much more prone to being kidnapped…"

"I hear that."

"You've been kidnapped before too?" She inquired curiously.

"Yup, but they usually don't have me for more than twenty though before mom and Buffy get them or Wills burns them up…" She answered around both a smile and a yawn.

"Pretty much the same here." The young brunette smiled. "I guess she's a pretty ok sister."

Without warning the record player was turned off, causing each of the girls to wake up considerably. Eyes somewhat alert they watched as the black demons cleared the room. 

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" They didn't need to see the face of that went with voice to know there was a smirk adorning it. Neither dignified the jab with a response. "So serious? No sense of humor? No smart remark?" Again both sat silently and merely watched what appeared to be empty air within the cave. "You know the music was actually to calm them, your annoyance was just an added bonus." They heard a sigh, carried in the air itself, floating through their ears. "Fine then, shall we just get down to it?"

"To what?" Alex was surprised by the calm in her voice.  In spite of her faith in the slayers and her parents, her nerves and uneasiness were nearly impossible to quell. Her eyes followed the sound of soft padding across the ground. 

"I'll need something from both of you if I am to remain on schedule." She chuckled softly and the sound was quite unexpectedly pleasant. "I'm well aware you will give nothing to me with conscious consent, you needn't tell me so. I have made provisions to accommodate my needs."

"The restraints?" Alex asked warily.  Dawn seemed to have no desire to speak to the creature at all and remained intently quiet throughout the entire encounter as she had during the last. 

"Smart girl." The amused tone left the child of the slayers feeling just a bit less confident, especially with the new proximity of the enemy. The last answer had sounded remarkably close to her head.  A few seconds later, she felt a cold breath of wind on her face followed by the sounds of retreating footsteps.  

"Are you ok?" She asked her companion, in a hushed whisper. 

"What? Yeah… yeah." Dawn answered.  "She's just a little hard to look at for long periods of time, like yellow highlighter… it would probably help if I had some sunglasses… it's most likely doing some serious damage to our… eyes? Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, taking in the other girl's astonished and dumbfounded expression. 

"You can see her?" The fierce whisper was interrupted by the sudden intrusion of what looked, to Alex, like a floating silver basin coming round the corner. Out of the left side hung the craved handle of ornamental knife. Thinking it best to not answer that question and retain whatever small advantages the two of them still possessed, the key was silent. 

The psychic girl watched as the knife rose out of the basin and felt herself being turned around. A slight chill covered her hand as she felt the knife penetrate the tip of one of her fingers. Her sharp intake of breath nearly masked the soft dripping of the blood into the silver dish.

Dawn swallowed nervously trying to remain under control. She only winced, closing her eyes as the knife made contact and her blood swirled and joined Alex's in the basin. The sound of clanging metal caught her attention as did the feeling of cold iron round her wrists.  Opening her eyes, she saw that both her and Alex had been shackled and the same knife was now being used to cut away the rope that had held their hands. 

Picking up the basin, the demon spoke. "You should be able to sleep more comfortably with those." It was true, their mobility had been greatly increased. 

After a few seconds passed, Dawn spoke around the finger she was nursing. "She's gone"

******

He sat on the edge of the bed in his uncomfortable hotel room watching the phone intently. He only had about a week left before it would be too late. She would call, unless he hadn't give the card. Why wouldn't he though? A business card never hurt anything. He found himself wishing once again that his late employer had not been so intent on everything going to the young slayer.  Faith had proven more than difficult to find, let alone contact. If he hadn't loved Maggie as dearly as his partner Mr. James did, he was sure that this near impossible quest would have been abandoned three times over by now. Perhaps she wasn't even in town, perhaps Mr. Giles had been telling the truth…

The loud ring of the hotel phone jarred him and it took a few seconds for him to register that it need to be answered. This assignment was by far the most mentally exhausting of his career. 

"Hello, this is Mr. Hendrik speaking."

Mr. Hendrik?

"Emma! Why hello! How are things at the office?" His secretary's cheeriness always seemed to have a positive to affect on him.  Remembering her lovely chestnut hair and bright sunshine smile also helped considerably.

Going quite well sir, but I called because that girl that you've been trying so hard to find called the office this morning.

"Faith Ryan??" He leaned backward, the surprise overwhelming him.

Yes, that's her! 

"Well heavens what did she say?"  So she was indeed here in Sunnydale.

I think she is considering actually calling you sir, I did explain that it was to do with the probate

"Did you? Good then, I shall redouble my efforts." The confidence he once possessed returning in full force. "Thank you so much Emma."

My pleasure, Mr. Hendrik… 

"Please dear, call me Ewan…" He muttered conversationally, uncharacteristically unconcerned about the lack of properness.

Ewan  Just as he thought. The name from her lips sounded wonderful. Well good night sir… I mean Ewan

"Yes good night!" His normally tight smile, expanded to stretch well across his face. As he loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collared shirt, he felt the weight of responsibility and failure that had been threatening to crush him for the past week, begin to slowly lift. 

******

Tara watched the clock on the microwave as another minute passed. It was now 12:34 and this was her third cup of tea this evening. Normally the warm, fragrent liquid served to calm her easily excited nerves but for all the herbal she downed nothing sat still within her. She drummed her fingers against the ceramic mug noticing its advertised ergonomic design did in fact fit her hand quite naturally. 

Her thoughts were on a particular redhead who was currently plugging away at her laptop, searching for any possible information that could help them against the latest threat to humanity.  By now, the blonde was aware that Willow researched and immersed herself in her studies for reasons that were not always educational. In fact she was quite sure that this bout of web surfing was brought on by the Faith situation.  

She too was uncomfortable with it, although admittedly not for the same reasons. Willow's main concerns revolved around the dark slayer herself, at least ostensibly, whereas hers were focused on a different person entirely.  It was disconcerting to say the least, to see the redhead acting as she had around the brunette.  Tara had never seen her behave so callously or judgmentally. She honestly believed the two were making progressed after Faith had apologized, but the newly revealed relationship between the two slayers apparently set the two girls back to square one. The blonde considered perhaps Willow was deathly afraid of loosing Buffy's friendship, but the reaction just didn't fit. It was wholly frustrating dilemma. 

"Find anything?" Tara asked softly, taking another sip, the neutrality of her voice sounding noticeably forced.  

Slipping the pen she had been jotting notes down with behind her ear, Willow turned to look at her girlfriend. "Not too much, just a few spells of the potentially helpful variety." She sighed, closing the laptop. "Tara…"

The wicca turned her eyes on her partner in such a way as to suggest that the other girl had her full attention.

"I've been thinking…" The hacker began.

"Oh?" She asked interestedly. 

"Other dimension Buffy and Faith… they looked kinda happy didn't they?" Finishing, she looked to the other girl for reassurance.

"Very happy." 

"Happy is a good thing." Willow said nodding to herself, before half-smiling at Tara. "Especially love type happy."

"Mmm… yes." She nodded in agreement taking yet another sip. 

"And if Buffy chooses to be with Faith cause she gets the happy from her then I should be happy for their happy right?"

It took the blonde a minute to compute exactly what it was her love had said. "Sounds logical."

"Even if the happy comes from a girl who got in five minutes the best friends it took me years to get." She mumbled it more than said it.

Tara stared questioningly across the table. "You think she took Buffy and Xander from you?"

"No… well no in a yes sort of way."  

"Honey… they were most definitely always your friends."

"I know…" Willow responded, explanations that she was afraid to consciously acknowledge swimming in her brain. There was a definite unspoken 'but' in the air. 

The blonde watched the other girl curiously. Knowing full well that Xander and Faith had slept together, she asked a question that had occurred to her once or twice. "Is this about your crush on Xander?" 

"Crush that I at one time, but no longer have on the childhood friend Xander… and no well yes well maybe." She sighed laying her head on the table, clearly confused. 

A smile so laced with amusement as to border on a smirk, appeared on Tara's unaccustomed features. "Is this about your crush on Buffy then?"

Willow bolted upright, her face a mask of fearful surprise. "WHAT? I didn't… I never… crushed on…what?"

"So it's about both of them…" Tara surmised, speaking more to herself than anyone else. Seeing her girlfriend was apparently on the verge of seizure, she moved closer. "Wills, it's ok… I've known for a long time."

"But I never… I don't… how?"

"I could just see it." She answered. Feeling the nervousness begin to mount she tried with all her might to suppress the stutters creeping up her vocal chords.  

"Tara I…  but, I love you."

Caught of guard the blonde moved to lock her eyes with Willow's. "I know that honey. I don't see it anymore, and I'm not worried or anything."

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I just want you to feel ok." Tara smiled a bit. "So how do you feel?"

"Like a big hunk of jerk. I just… I don't know. I mean I was a little geeky back then, maybe even frumpy, but it was like they just meant so much to me and I was with the raging adolescent angst and admiring from a far… I was getting comfortable with it even.  Not that Oz wasn't a good boyfriend… he was a great boyfriend besides the werewolf factor, but he wasn't any them… Then Faith shows up and she's beautiful, and sexy, and strong and all those things that I wasn't and kinda wanted to be and it took like a day before Xander and Buffy were her biggest fans…"

"Made you insecure?" The blonde added quietly, realizing that this was most likely the first time Willow had said any of this out loud. 

"Yeah, like big time." 

"And you hated her for it?"

"Well that and the whole hostage slash I'm all evil now thing, but mostly that… hence the feeling like a big hunk of jerk." She said slumping dejectedly in her chair.  Realizing that the moral high ground she once believed herself to be standing on was nothing more than veiled insecurity was to say the least a rude awaking for Willow.  

"You're not a bad person honey, we all do stuff like that, everyone needs to be selfish or petty once in awhile or else it just builds up."

Looking disbelievingly at the blonde girl, the redhead shook her head. "Somehow I can't imagine you being anything of the sort."

Tara turned away a bit. "I was just a second ago."

"How?"

Speaking quietly, the shy wicca answered. "I was glad it never worked out between you and Xander or you and Buffy…" The other girl watched her lover, waiting for an elaboration. "B-because" She stopped a second to relax. "Because if it had… you wouldn't be my Willow." 

A brilliant smile crept onto the redhead's face, her depression dissipating.  "Always yours."  She whispered, leaning over to kiss her girlfriend. After it broke, the legendary resolve face made an appearance. "I should go apologize to them."   

Tara looked at her with eyes that spoke volumes. It was a gaze that the blonde witch seldom used, but its effectiveness was undeniable. Willow caught her breath before quickly adding.  "Tomorrow, definitely tomorrow." The smile that greeted this addition was beautiful, though not quite as breath-taking as the kiss the redhead soon found herself entirely engaged in. 

******

"Well that was exceptionally awkward" Buffy stated. How does one prepare for overhearing older versions of oneself and one's lover make love when sexual tension between oneself and said lover is at an all time high? And what pray tell does one say afterward? The blonde certainly didn't know and the brunette did not appear to either. 

Shrugging and deciding to make light of the situation, Faith smirked a bit. "Sounds like you're good B. Takes a lot to make me scream like that."  

"Well I'm sure I've had lots of practice."  Buffy smirked back. 

"Maybe your just naturally talented." The brunette suggested.

"We'll have to wait and see won't we…" The teasing tone in her voice was beginning to get the brunette. She didn't want to rush this though. It was important, it meant something, it wasn't just sex. Perhaps that was why it was so hard for her to fit comfortably into her normal role as seductress. "You keep doing that…" The blonde commented.

"Doing what?" The dark slayer worried her bottom lip.

"Looking lost whenever you know I mention… or you mention…" Though Buffy didn't say the words, it was clear what she was referring to. 

"I um…" Faith looked off the to the side. " I just… I haven't ever… and well… it's um… fuck…that I..."

The blonde raised an eyebrow, smiling. "You're babbling."

"Shit B, I'm sorry… it's…"

"Cute." The shocked looked on the brunette's face caused Buffy's smile to grow even bigger. "It's cute" She moved closer to the other girl, putting her arms around her waist. Faith tried to ignore the feeling of the shorter girl's breasts pressing against hers.

"I'll be honest, you got me a little shook up B." The slayer swallowed the lump in her throat. 

"What little ole me?" She asked leaning deliberately closer, almost delighting in the nervous anticipation that shown in her girlfriend's eyes.  Softening and stepping it down a notch, she gently took the brunette's cheek in her hand. "Don't worry when we do, we'll take it slow." 

It was clear that Faith was quite embarrassed by the entire situation. Buffy found that lack of surety wholly endearing.  Once again their lips met in a kiss that lasting quite a long time.  When it finally broke the two slayers found themselves laying on the bed next to each other. 

Buffy allowed the hand that had been resting on Faith's cheek to slide down the brunette's body, brushing her breast and thereby causing her breathing to pick up. Suddenly the hand halted its descent on a patch of scar tissue above her navel. The dim, but warm light of the fireplace had kept it hidden until now. 

"Faith…" The dark slayer heard the pain in the other girl's voice.  She knew Buffy had never seen it and the situation made her wish she was better with things like this.

"Hey B it's ok" She said as reassuringly as possible, reaching up to rub the other slayer's cheek surprised to find tears there. Wiping them gently away with her thumb, she took the smaller woman in her arms and held her. "It's ok." 

She soon felt the girl break away.  The hand that had initially found the remnants of her wound had yet to be moved. The blonde's eyes now joined fingers in studying the textured scarring. Almost as if they were trying to smooth it out, those same fingers traced the scar. The brunette watched, not knowing what to do or say as she felt an overwhelming amount of emotion flood her; emotion that was finally released in the form of tears when she felt soft lips kissing the skin in some attempt to sooth it away, to make amends. 

"I'm sorry." Faith felt more than heard the whisper against her stomach, mixing with the fallen tears running and pooling in the dip of her navel.  "I never ever wanted it to go that far…"

"I know Buffy…" She reassured unsteadily. A fresh set of tears trailed down her cheeks, as she felt another series of soft reverent kisses along the scar.

"I'm sorry." Again whispered, this time much more shaky. 

"It's ok B." The blonde rested her head on the dark slayer's stomach, as fingers trailed affectionately through her hair. The exhausting events of the evening finally began to take their toll and it was in this position that the two slayers found sleep. 

******


	14. The Great Naked Dash

**PART 13: The Great Naked Dash **

Alex's eyes slowly opened as she found herself suddenly awake.  She was less than pleased to find her cheek resting on cold, damp earth.  Grimacing slightly, she pushed herself into a sitting position.  Raising an eyebrow, she looked down at Dawn who was just rising herself.  The young girl's brown hair was sticking up at angles that the other had previously believed impossible.

"Rough night?" She joked.

The key merely squinted at her, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.  A huge yawn and a stretch followed before she grumbled her response. "Not funny."

Reaching into her jacket pocket Alex pulled out a tin. Popping one of the candies into her mouth, she offered the tin to Dawn. "Altoid?"

"Got anything else?" She responded, not sure was ready for such a large dose of peppermint. 

The other girl fished around in her jacket until she found just a bit of fuzz. "Pocket lint?" She smirked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yuck, on second thought I'll take the Altoid." She grabbed one from the tin, and her eyes opened a bit wider as the tingle filled her mouth. Alex merely shrugged and flicked the pocket lint out of her hand. 

"Good morning" 

"It's too early for disembodied voices…" The brunette mumbled slipping the tin back into her jacket pocket. 

"I trust you slept well?" 

"What's with that?" Was the irritated response.

"I'm sorry?" For the first time, the voice held no smugness or arrogance or marks of supposed superiority whatsoever.

Sighing exaggeratedly, Alex elaborated. "I trust you slept well, it's none of your concern? Y'know the creepy butler speak?"

"I… it's none of…" With an audible sigh, which caused a smirk to appear on the face of her questioner, she stopped herself. "I'm going out, I hope you don't mind if I put on a little mood music?" As the voice now appeared to be moving to the record player in the far corner of the cave, expressions of shock and horror simultaneously appeared on Dawn and Alex.

"You've got to be kidding me." The teenagers more whined than anything else.

"I'm afraid I must. They get so rambunctious without the music." She responded in a tone lacking any and all indication of sincere apology. "Unless…" 

"Unless what?" Dawn asked, for the first time speaking to the voice. 

"Well, I can see one other solution." The tickle of amusement left the girls already half fearing this new possibility. 

With sufficient wariness, Alex gently pried. "What did you have in mind?"

The air was inundated with the unsuppressed laughter of the demon. "Perhaps they might enjoy a sing-a-long?"

*******

Buffy winced as the hot water streamed across the slash on her back.  Taking a shower had been a challenge this morning. Not that challenges were necessarily a bad thing but when things that take only the intellectual and physical ability to wash one's hair become labeled as such it is usually unpleasant. The positions she was forced to adopt in order to avoid having the jets of water directly hit her wound made her curse Angel's fondness for multiple showerheads and give thanks for her natural limberness.  In any case she found herself glad that she was near finished. The only issue still at hand would be re-dressing the wound and she was sure she could get Faith's help. The thought brought a slight smile to her lips. 

She remembered this morning and the pleasantness that waking up on a cool morning in a warm blanket brought. A pleasantness that was multiplied ten fold by the soft midsection she had slept on and the hand which gently brushing her hair away from her face. She smiled, as she tilted her head back.  

After rinsing the last of the remaining conditioner from her hair, she shut the water off and reached out to grab a towel… a towel that apparently did not exist. Her eyes widening, she pulled the clear glass door back and looked. No towel. No towel? Wasn't there a towel? Who doesn't keep towels in their bathroom? She found herself thinking in a panic, though she provided herself with an answer almost immediately. People who live in a different city now that's who. She cursed herself for not thinking to look before she stepped in. Her clothes from last night!… The clothes Faith had graciously grabbed to throw in the wash. She doubly cursed herself as she dubiously eyed a hand towel hanging over the sink. 

As the nervousness continued to mount and the hot moisture-rich air of the bathroom began to take affect, a thought struck her. She was the slayer was she not? She ran fast, quite fast. She had done it before, once or twice when no one was home at her house and she forgot a towel… It was only a short sprint upstairs. As the sweat began to bead on her forehead (as well as far less tolerable places) from the steam left by her shower, a decision, the only feasible one in her mind, had been made. She, Buffy Summers, would make a run for it.

Using the hand towel to squeeze out her hair she listened carefully. Nothing, no sound. Perfect. The door was swung open and the sprint was underway.

However, before she even rounded the living room. The knocker of the front door echoed, followed by the sound of it being pulled open and a choking cough from the couch.  In shock she froze.         

*******

"So I'm all ready… let's get to saving the kiddies and kickin' this big ba……ah oh" Xander stopped his chatting, as the group stepped through the threshold to the living room. 

"Ba ah oh?" Willow repeated, looking at her childhood friend, confused by his bulging eyes and intense stare. That was until she looked into the room herself. "Oh. OH. " She to was immediately frozen in place, her face a flaming red matched perfectly by Tara who had the presence of mind to look away.  Only her and a flustered watcher had done so.   

The scene that greeted them was quite unexpected. In the center of the room stood a very naked, rather wet woman, a woman who they all knew quite well, looking just as shocked as they did. On the couch sat an equally stunned vampire, looking for all the world as though he was trying to look away only to find the vertebrae in his neck suddenly fused and his eyelids stapled open. 

"What's going on?" Asked the sleepy older Buffy, just coming into the room from a bedroom down the hall clad in her pajamas. She stopped mid yawn, slack jawed as she too processed the situation. 

For her part the older version of Faith, having let all the guests in with no prior knowledge of Buffy's intent to make a great naked dash to the upstairs bedroom, merely blinked at the sight and turned away with a smirk. As the silence and staring was reaching levels of intolerable awkwardness, a yawning voice interrupted.

"So what did I… " To say that Faith was surprised by what she saw when she reached the bottom of the stairs is too much of an understatement to even be considered as a proper description of her state of mind. "miss?" The highness of her voice was quite unnatural.

Buffy's mind desperately searched for a way to rectify or completely erase the entirely too naked situation she had just found herself in. The only thing her mind could come up with was to finish with her original plan. So it was in this trance like state that she regained her mobility and quietly walked upstairs. Leaving the occupants of the room to stare at the air space where a nude blonde slayer had previously been.

*******

"Doo doodoo doo doodoo doo doodoo doo doodoo."  Alex sung the intro with a lack of enthusiasm that was characteristically teenage from her position on the dirt floor. Dawn accompanied her with some slightly livelier snapping before beginning the first verse.

 "Oh, it's not unusual to be loved by anyone"

"Doo doodoo" Alex tapped the ground in a simulated drumbeat.

"It's not unusual to have fun with anyone." Dawn bobbed her head slightly against the wall as she tried to remember the words. 

"Doo doodoo"

"And when I see you hanging round with anyone, it's not unusual to see me cry."

Smiling a bit, Alex finished with her "I wanna die…"

Then they both continued with a little more life than before. "Doo doodoo doo doodoo doo doodoo doo doodoo"

For their part the demons seemed to be enjoying their rendition. By now they had all gathered around the two girls in a circle and were humming in their strange little way along with the intro. It seemed that Alex was right Dawn found herself thinking, Tom Jones is always a crowd pleaser. 

Although for now things did not look terrible for the two girls, nervousness and fear were mounting and mixing within them in dangerous proportions.  

*******

It was a good half hour into the meeting when Buffy finally came down from upstairs, making no eye contact whatsoever with anyone in the room. The embarrassment was really unlike any she had felt before. Even the time that Steven Johnson from first grade had spilled apple juice on the front of her new skirt and told everyone she had an accident did not compare. So it was with a slight flush of her cheeks and a demure glance downward that she took a seat. 

Everyone seemed ill at ease. Xander especially. He seemed to have no idea which way to look. He and Angel both were trying not to stare at the older versions of Buffy and Faith who were revealed to be the parents of the now missing girl and thereby physically and more importantly sexually involved with each other. The two men were clearly very affected by this news though for entirely different reasons. Angel couldn't help but consider that it would (if it hadn't already) happen here. Though he was quite fond of Faith, as an ex of the slightly over-protective and more than minimally possessive variety he was understandably unnerved by the situation. Not to mention of course the fact that Buffy would be dating a woman, which made him feel slightly guilty as he thought about her less than stellar experiences with men (at least half of which were his doing). 

Xander on the other hand was a far less complex creature. Like most young men of his orientation he often fantasized about women and like slightly fewer young men he often fantasized about women together. Now sitting in the same room with him were two sets of exactly what tended to fill his mind late at night. His real struggle was to keep his mind on the enemy.   

Giles coughed. "So, we were just discussing the best way to go about rescuing Dawn and Alex. More specifically whether we should focus on getting them back or on the coming ritual…"

Clearing her throat, while not quite trusting her voice, Buffy bravely spoke. "Well there are lots of us." All of whom have now seen me sans clothes, she couldn't help mentally adding. "I say we split up, having one group do the head on attack and the other a sort of rescue."

Smiling with something akin to a father's pride, Giles nodded. "Yes I'd say that would be both logical and to our advantage." Looking around the room, he began mentally planning the groups. There were eight people not including himself. That would be four and four, plus an extra.  

"Well I guess I know what group I'm in." Faith chirped. 

"Yes, you will be the leader of the group heading the attack." The watcher confirmed. "And Buffy will be the leader of the rescue effort."

"Effort is such if-y word. What about if we called it a rescue success or maybe just a rescue with no if's cause that's much more upbeat." Willow debated.

"Right then, Buffy will lead the rescue."

"I'm guessing you mean little Buffy." The older of the blonde slayers questioned. 

"I object to the usage of 'little', youthful, younger, early twenties Buffy all ok, but no on the little Buffy." The younger girl replied.  

"Yes well, I'm sure you can sort that out at a later date. I am assuming that you two." He pointed to the older slayers. "Wish to fight also?"

Buffy nodded, while Faith merely replied "Hell yeah."

After a moment's thoughtful pause, the younger blonde continued the discussion. "I think that our best chance is to put Angel and Wills and Tara together with Faith." The four of them turned to her, Willow somewhat questioningly. "Angel and Faith can take care of the fighting stuff" The two looked at each other and shared a small smile. She turned to Willow. "And you and Tara can come in behind and use some magic-y stuff to help and by them some time." 

"I'd be inclined to agree." Giles added. 

"And then me and um… other Buffy and other Faith will come in and get Dawn and Alex back."   

"What about me?" Xander asked.

"You're like first aid guy and fend off guy. You make sure their alright and take care of anything that gets past us." He nodded in happy compliance. "Maybe Giles can help you." The older man gave a thankful glance in the blonde slayer's direction. He rose before speaking.

"I think that perhaps now we should research a bit and try to uncover some probable locales for this demon and tonight you four" he glanced at the slayers and then remembered Angel. "Or five rather can scout them." They all nodded. He stepped close to the young brunette slayer and placed his hand on her shoulder. "And I believe that you could benefit from some more training."

"Sure thing G man." She smiled at him and stood up. 

"Buffy, you can join us if you'd like."

She nodded and followed Faith into a room of the mansion that Angel had told them was the best suited for such things.  

*******

As a knock sounded on the door of his crypt it was with amazing speed that Spike threw a bed sheet over and then shoved into the closet his newest toy. 

"William."

"Hello pet didn't expect you here so early." He spoke, as he inched away from the sunbeam that was crawling underneath the door. Something occurred to him as he took in the woman for all outward appearances was Drusilla. She was not hooded nor cloaked, yet she was unscathed by the sun. There was something amiss with that situation. 

Without a moment's warning he pinned the imposter to a nearby wall. It was taken by surprise but apparently only for a split second. Laughter completely unlike that of his old flame emanated from the body. "I suppose this means I've been discovered…"

"What the bloody hell… " He mumbled in confusion as the figure he had so securely pinned the wall faded into invisibility and slipped from his grasp.  

"I apologize for the deception, but it is much easier to gain someone's cooperation if they believe they know you."

"Who the hell are you?"

Smiling slightly, though he was unable to see. "No one you know, and…" The shocked vampire soon found himself pinned on his back with a terribly angry looking Buffy pinned on top of him with a stake in her hand. "Anyone you want." It was her voice exactly. Then the solid form faded like a wisp of smoke in the breeze. Then the laughing again and something entirely new materialized. It looked much like electricity in the dark, bluish and static and unsettled wrapped around the pale resemblance of a woman's body. 

She watched the disgruntled vampire, who looked ready to pull out of everything they had planned. 

"I need your help."

"Sod off."  He waved his hand dismissively. 

"I can still deliver you the slayer you know. That is a promise that I can keep. She will be yours to do whatever you wish with. And as I see it, you are indebted to me."

Offended, he stood his full height. "Like hell I am!" 

"Oh but you are, I removed your chip, I gave you the power to help me and I can take it back. All you need do is refuse me and close your eyes, not pay attention for just so long and it's back in." 

Sighing loudly, he gave in just a bit. "What the hell do you need me for anyway?"

"My race was nearly destroyed by the humans. I wish to bring them back and exact the vengeance they have evaded for far too long already. Now the only way to do this is to drain the blood of two born of mystical energy over the abyss of hell. Now I ask you what sort of creature would I need for such a job?"

Thinking awhile, Spike answered. "You'll get me the slayer?" 

"Completely unharmed."

Looking at the closet where his robot was stored, he made a decision. "Deal"

*******

Faith dodged Buffy's attacks easier than she had before, she was getting better it seemed with each passing set. It was at this time that Buffy made a decision. The brunette really needed to be ready/ She would throw everything she had at the blindfolded girl. Taking a deep breath she launched an attack that visibly startled the watcher though he did not stop the training. 

Faith, for her part took a few seconds to adjust to the change in pace and the blonde was able to land a few. As the blonde girl leapt attempting to land a kick to the other girl's jaw, Faith merely stepped aside and gave a joking smack to the other girl's bottom. The brunette's slight amusement over her success gave Buffy the chance to sweep her. However as the brunette fell she turned in just such a way as to land a kick to back of the older girl's knee, collapsing her right foot. 

Both girls collected themselves breathing hard.

"That was very well done." Giles commented. "Perhaps you'd like to try it with your sword, Faith?" he tossed it to her and she caught it gracefully. 

"Whoa! Your gonna give blindfold girl a sword and tell her to have at me?" Buffy was clearly not ok with that scenario. 

"You get one too of course." He tossed the blonde a near identical sword. Smiling Buffy readied herself for round two. 

It was not so much the power that amazed Giles. It was the speed and accuracy of their attacks and counters and the grace that they still managed to have. It seemed both slayers had matured quite a bit. As he watched Faith fight he felt a certain reassurance. Though admittedly he had never quite noticed before, she was quite good and quite resilient to say the least. He watched over their intense training for another two hours before he told the now thoroughly sweat soaked slayers that they needed to save their strength.

Untying her blindfold Faith blinked at the sudden intrusion of light. "So how'd I do watcher man?"

"Well the speed of the session made it somewhat difficult for me tell," He saw her face fall just the slightest bit. "But off-hand I'd say, well… extraordinary." He smiled, in the way he often did when his slayers accomplished something incredible. His slayers? He wondered to himself when had he come to think of Faith as his slayer? 

She gave a beaming, if somewhat embarrassed smile as she put the assorted tools they had used in the truck. 

"I'd say she could use a bit more practice." Buffy commented with a feigned seriousness, until she saw the definite frown on the other girl's face. As she approached, she prepared to apologize. However before she could open her mouth she found herself in a chokehold.

"I'd say you could use some more too." She struggled a bit, but was unable to escape the accompanying noogie. Which earned an eye roll and an exit from Giles. 

Thankfully the torture was short lived and Faith placed a semi-apologetic kiss on the top of the other girl's head before she let her go. After putting the trunk of Angel's weapon's they had used back in it's original place, the brunette turned to the blonde. 

"How's the back?" She asked, eyeing the now somewhat exposed bandage just below the hemline of Buffy's shirt.

Smiling at the concern, the older girl waved her hand dismissively. "Fine. The Shoulder?"

"Healed.  So, we done here B?" 

"Almost"

"Almost?" The brunette surveyed the room. Everything appeared to be in order, except perhaps her girlfriend who had by now taken up residence on the second to last step of the nearby stairwell. "What's up B?"

"I don't know if I can go back up there."  

Confused, Faith sheathed her blade and moved closer. "Why?"

Starring in disbelief, the blonde reviewed the situation. "Um… you may not remember but I was just naked! Very naked! With people! Who weren't! With Xander! I was naked with Xander! And Giles! I was naked with Xander and Giles! Do have any idea what that's like?" The sudden display of neuroticism struck the brunette as quite amusing though she hid it well. 

"Yes on the Xander part and I definitely remember. Not something you easily forget, naked women in the middle of your living room." The dark slayer answered, blushing a bit with the memory of it.

"Woman! One woman. One Buffy. It would have been not so bad if there were other naked people." She added a little too quickly. "Like both of us."

Shrugging and sighing playfully, she responded. "Somehow I don't think that would have helped much. Especially with all the questions about why the two of us were in the shower together to begin with."

"I don't think you understand Faith. I was without clothes! In front of everyone I know with the thankful exception of my mom and Spike! Naked! Naked Faith!" She put her head in her hands. 

Stifling a laugh, she tried to be comforting. "B, it's not that bad." 

"Says the dressed girl." 

"Buffy I've been there before, with a priest."

Looking curiously at the girl, she asked. "That was true?"

Surprised, Faith looked at the girl. "You thought I made it up?" 

"No?"  Rolling her eyes, the brunette sat next to the blonde.  "I think I just need to relax a bit." Buffy said. "Too much stress." The younger woman knew that she was talking about much more than her accidental exhibitionism.

"We'll go up when you're ready B."  Smiling at the other girl, Faith leaned against the wall, placing a hand on the other girl's thigh. "It's no big." Smirking, the dark slayer used her best reassuring tone. "I can think about you being naked too if it helps?"

Buffy only shook her head, pretending not to be amused.   
  


*******

"Ah ha! And other sounds of sudden and exciting discovery!" Xander stood up, holding the page with a rather large smile on his face.

"Whatcha got Xand?" Willow leaned over his shoulder to try and read from the book.

"It says that our big bad likes a nice one bedroom cave." The boy announced. Giles took the book and read over the part in conformation. "With moon roof of course!"

"Perhaps then the moon is central to the ritual?"

"The next full moon is in two days." The brooding vampire commented. 

Nodding slightly, Xander put the book down. "Or it just adds that special homey demon feel."

"There are a few cave formations out past the cemeteries." Angel offered helpfully. "I can take you there."

Nodding seriously, Giles spoke. "Yes, that would be fine. Thank you Angel." As always the tension between the two men was nearly palpable. "So I believe that all we have left to do is wait till sundown." 

"Sounds like a plan" The older Faith commented. "Where the hell are Buffy and Faith by the way?"

"I'm assuming that they are still putting the training implements away." 

"Uh huh." The older brunette responded in such a way as to make it abundantly clear she had an entirely different explanation in mind, which earned her a stare from Angel and an elbow from her nearby wife.

*******

"I'm not sure I know anymore songs." Dawn sang the worried phrase. 

"We can probably just fend them off by singing our words." Alex crooned back. 

"This is almost exactly like a candid camera sketch I saw…" 

The other girl nodded seeing the comic potential of their current predicament. "I bet we could just sing the same thing over and over again and it wouldn't bother them."

"It would bother me." Dawn hastily sang back. 

"Me too" She added a little embellishment to her 'too'. 

"Oh wait!" The younger Summers seemed to remember something. Alex and the demons were completely shocked as the girl attempted a rendition of a gangsta rap song, humming the introduction. 

"Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west,   
A state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness."

It quickly become apparent that the demons were less than pleased, as a hurled stone hit her square in the forehead. 

"OUCH!"

"I guess they don't like 2pac" Alex mumbled sympathetically. The tension began to mount as the demons started to become rambunctious. "Uh… damn…" The girl racked her brain for something to sing, as Dawn rubbed at her forehead. Humming a bit of the first bar, and scrunching her brow in thought she shakily began.  

"Uh…bro…brother… bought a coconut, he bought it for a dime   
His sister had another one, she paid it for a lime

She put the lime in the coconut

And mix it all up…" 

The hypnotic and simple tune soon calmed them. 

*******

It was a few hours, maybe two before complete darkness would settle over Sunnydale. The nine occupants of the mansion had split up to pass the time as they saw fit. Faith had gone to take a shower after the training session wisely taking both a towel and a change of clothes into the bathroom. Angel had disappeared into the lower levels to gather weapons and other such useful items for the trip, although it was quite evident that he was seeking solitude as well. Willow, Tara, and Giles were still hard at work in the study looking in the materials available for any further information. The older slayers had retired to their bedroom looking very much worse for the wear. Buffy assumed that the full reality of the situation, particularly the Alex component of it, was weighing extraordinarily heavy on them.  That left Buffy and Xander alone together for the first time since Faith's unexpected arrival.

"So…" She began unsteadily.

"Yes indeed-y do."  It was clear that each of them had more to say, but neither seemed particularly interested in taking that first step, that was until Xander spoke up. "So, quite the little surprise with other Buffy and Faith being, well of the together variety huh?" 

"Um…not exactly."

He looked at her, clearly surprised. "Not exactly? Not exactly as in not surprising?"

Nodding, a bit of color coming to her cheeks, she responded with attempted nonchalance.   "That would the one."

Xander stared at her clearly trying to figure something out. There were multiple inferences he could make from such a statement, most of which made him uncomfortable.

"Xander…" Breathing in, she debated whether or not to continue the sentence. "I um… that is… Faith and I are…"

He watched intently, trying to grasp what she was saying, but not quite believing that she would say what it seemed she was trying to. "Faith and you?" The question hung in the air just long enough for Willow to overhear. 

With a shy excited smile, she turned to her friends. "Oh you told Xander?" As Buffy was about to comment, Willow continued taking in his shocked expression. "I know! I was definitely of the shocked too. I mean Buffy and Faith together… with the really together, who could have guessed?" She gave an encouraging smile to Buffy as a lead in to the apology she was about to issue for yesterday.  "Which I am very OK with!! Super OK even!"

However, as Xander jumped up and Buffy hung her head the redhead began to sense something was wrong. This belief was confirmed a second later when the boy found his voice. 

"WHAT??? You and Faith??? Buff… you can't… I mean…" His mouth continued to move wordlessly.

"Why am I getting the feeling he didn't know?" The witch asked nervously, more to herself than anyone else. 

"Because he didn't." The blonde slayer mumbled. 

"So it's true?" The brown-haired man stared at his close friend, a girl he thought he knew. "You and Faith?" The question though short was clear. No one was quite sure how to react. 

"Xand I…" Buffy began.

She watched as he threw himself dejectedly into the chair. "Is it me?"

Confused and thrown by the vulnerability in his tone, the blonde slayer sat beside him. "Is what you?" 

"That's what now? Three out of um… my only four not so gay when I met them female friends and the first girl I y'know-ed with… are now not not so gay anymore. I said say that's a staggering coincidence."

Buffy smiled reassuringly at him. "It's definitely not you." 

"Well what is it then??" he mumbled. 

"Um Wills help me out here!" 

The redhead became even more nervous as the pressure for an answer mounted. "I don't know. Tara… me and Tara well we are witches together and since we were already together with the witchiness why not be together with the nakedness and wow that didn't sound right, um… this is hard question, give me another one!"

Buffy and Xander just stared blankly at the girl for a few moments. Coughing, the blonde slayer tried to interpret what Willow had meant. "I think she meant that they have a lot in common, since they both do the magic stuff and the shy stuff. Just like me and Faith we have the slayer stuff and the um… slayer stuff covers a lot of things."

"Yes on that being what I was saying." The redhead confirmed quickly. "And Tara's big with the sexiness. That helps too."

No one noticed the aforementioned blonde who was passing by on her way to the kitchen stop dead in her tracks at the entrance the living room, her face a deep red. After what seemed like a full minute she retreated back into the library.   

"The sexy thing is definitely a plus." Buffy agreed, eyeing a slightly flushed Faith.  "So it's a combination of sexy girls and having things in common."

The news seemed to be truly sinking in and for the first time a Xander grin broke onto his face.  "So you and Faith huh?"

He looked at Buffy. She looked back with a slight flush in her cheeks and a shrug. He seemed to lose himself in thought for a bit all the while that grin staying plastered to his face. 

"I think he's ok with it." The redhead conjectured. 

"Me too" Buffy answered. "Maybe a little too ok." 

*******

"What are we going to do?" The elder Buffy stared at the now useless enchantment given to her by Willow. "We can't go back."

Sighing, the brunette threw an arm over her face. "I honestly don't know.  It's not like we could have left without her."  

"I know." The blonde quickly agreed. That was the most important thing, Alex was the most important thing. "But aren't you worried?"

"Of course I am Buffy!" Faith sat up, disbelief bordering on hurt appearing on her face. "She's our daughter."

Alarmed the slayer took a seat on the end of the bed. "I wasn't talking about that. I know your worried about her, I'm petrified." She whispered the last part. "I meant about what Wills said."

"She said a lot of things."

"About altering this dimension, about the dire consequences… that we couldn't stop anything we knew would happen. If we're stuck here…"

"What are saying?" 

"How long do you think it is gonna be before one of us crosses that line?" Buffy mumbled quietly. 

Sitting up, the brunette woman turned to look the blonde in the eyes. "We'll find a way back, all of us. Red and Tara exist here too they could probably do the witch thing." 

"And if we don't?"

The other woman's reply was firm. "We will"

"How can you be so sure?"  The other woman wrapped her arms around herself. 

"Jesus B, I can't." Faith ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't."

Sighing, Buffy glanced sideways at the wall. "I'm sorry…"

"Not your fault. It's cool." Blinking rapidly, Faith chewed at her bottom lip. The blonde knew it to be a brooding expression, usually a precursor to some type of explosive emotion. She didn't have to wait long for this one. "You know what? Fuck this shit! I'm so sick of this! I thought this kind of fucked up stuff was finally done with us. I thought maybe we finally got cut a break then this happens? What the fuck did I do, either of us do to deserve it? Not only am I the fucking slayer, not only do I have to put my life in danger every night, hell it has be everyone who means anything to me too and it has to be for the rest of my life?? Tell me how the fuck that's fair!" The brunette's eyes held a dangerous anger, an anger that hadn't appeared in them for quite sometime. 

Sitting on the bed next to her lover, she answered honestly. "I can't because it's not fair."

"I don't know what the fuck to do anymore." The brunette whispered. "How to fix this. I don't have a handle on anything now B. " 

Swallowing Buffy just watched the other woman for a moment, not knowing what to say. The brunette looked far from ok, she looked as she had when they had met so many years ago. She looked completely lost, only now there was no real bravado, nothing to chip away before that was evident.  It still tore at her the same way it had back then. 

*******

Angel wandered around in the basement of the mansion, the dungeon levels as they had once been described to him. This was where he had stored all his weapons and artifacts: the amulets, the swords, the knives, the axes, the shackles, his toys as he used to refer to them. That was before though, now they were just tools. He had gone upstairs, to check on Faith and he had overheard… she was telling Xander, he wasn't supposed to be around he was sure. Buffy and Faith were together. It had happened here too.  

In all honesty he wasn't terribly surprised. He had known then how Faith felt about Buffy, because it was how he himself felt about her. Angel had seen some things, some actions, some words, some looks that would seem to point to the blonde slayer sharing those feelings, but there was always fear there too. The same looks she gave him. Though no one else noticed, there was fear in her when they kissed, when they smiled, when they were together. It was a fear of loving some one who was so damaged, some one who was not stable, someone who every one around you would never understand you loving.

The incredible affinity he felt with Faith made him wonder sometimes. They were so alike. Though the circumstances were different, he had understood her since the moment he met her, he watched her make the same mistakes he did, he knew her motives and her defenses. Strangest of all perhaps, was that he knew that he would do exactly as she did if their circumstances were equivalent. Something about her…

"Hey fang."

Turning to see the subject on his thoughts on the steps, he smiled. "Faith."

"How are things back at base?"

"There going fine. Gunn and Wes are taking care of things." 

She nodded. "How's C?" 

Faith couldn't help but notice the slight quaver in his voice. "She's fine."

"I'm guessing you're not coming back after this is over."

"Angel I…" The brunette was caught completely off guard.

He smirked at her. "I heard."

"How?"

"Buffy told Xander. I was upstairs."

The brunette was extremely uncomfortable with the situation.  "Angel, I… I never… this wasn't… I'm not tryin' to y'know…"

"I do." He watched her breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm sure you two will be happy." He added in the quiet not particularly emotional way of his. Without asking, she knew he was not entirely ok with it, that it had upset him at least minimally. However, she appreciated his attempts to hide it.  

"Thanks boss." She said quietly. 

He began his walk upstairs. His demon side was telling him that the sun was gone. "Faith?" 

"Yeah fang?"

"Take care of her… and yourself." It was as sincere a request as ever came from the mostly broody man and Faith found it brought a smile to her lips.

"Always."  With a nod, he disappeared upstairs.

*******

As the darkness settled, the nine members of the house gathered in the living room. The five who were this evening's appointed scouts had weapons in hand. In the case of all four slayers it was stakes as usual as well as various other weapons. The two Buffys carried weapons chosen from Angel's downstairs arsenal, a particularly lethal looking blade for the younger of the two and surprisingly enough a quarterstaff for the older.  The younger Faith carried her sword and the older Faith carried Alex's hunting knife strapped at her side. Angel carried a small hand axe with a sharpened wooden end and a light sword that, like the younger brunette's strapped across his back. Though each of them carried more than one weapon, no one had taken anything particularly heavy.  

"I trust that all of you will be careful tonight, and should you find anything remember to alert the others before going in" Giles began. Smiling in a slightly unconvincing way he wished them luck. 

Xander smiled. "We'll be here, with the strategizing and behind the scenes magic!" 

"And hot drinks for when you get back, or cold drinks, or even adult-y drinks!" Willow added.

"Less than healthy snacks and choose your own drinks." Tara nodded at them.

"Sounds good guys." The younger Buffy said with a somewhat forced smile. The tension of their current situation was stifling and had succeeded in sucking any real cheerfulness left in the older slayers out. The younger brunette and the soul-ed vampire seemed quite aware of it too. It was with a curt nod that the five of them left.   
   

*******

"Angel knows B." Faith said solemnly as they made their way through the forest and towards the southern most cave formations. The vampire had given them all directions. It was three teams: the older slayers, the younger slayers, and Angel. He seemed to want to be alone and Faith despite the sinking feeling in her gut made no protest. They were to meet at the formations, searching for anything helpful along their designated routes.  

"Yes or else he would be pretty bad at giving directions." The blonde conceded. After all, it seemed to her the person telling you where to go would know how to get there.

"No, I mean about us y'know being extra friendly." She elaborated.

"Extra friendly huh? I don't think I've heard that one before." Buffy gave a nervous laugh, which quickly died. "How?"

"Overheard you telling X." Faith answered, pushing a branch aside.  

Chewing her lip worriedly, the blonde slayer whispered. "How'd he take it?"

"Pretty good, he seemed at least ok with it, but as you know Fang's a bit hard to read."

"Not unlike someone else I know." The blonde smirked. 

Laughing slightly, the brunette stuck her tongue out and released the branch she was holding. It snapped back, just missing the older girl's head. Faith knew it wouldn't hit her because of their height difference, though as she guessed it would the sudden movement startled Buffy.

"You are so lucky that didn't hit me." The threat was only half-mocking. 

Smiling mischievously, the brunette took the bait. "Yeah, why's that?"

"I'd have to dole out due punishment." The blonde answered in a not-quite believable apologetic tone. 

Quirking a brow, Faith pursued the line of questioning. "Punishment huh? What are you gonna do B? Spank me?" 

Shaking her head, the blonde answered with a deadpanned "I said punishment Faith."

"Very funn…" The dark slayer was stopped mid sentence by a jarring blow to her face. Cracking her jaw back into place, she turned ready to face the vamp who had the balls to attack a slayer so forcefully. Instead, she found herself looking at something she never in a million years expected, something that made her newly realigned jaw as slack as Buffy's had been for the past minute. 

An exact copy of the blonde slayer stood a mere few feet away with a scowl adorning her pretty features. She looked at them, shaking her head. "You are not my friends."  

*******

The older slayers had been given a path, which led them directly through three of the most frequently vampired graveyards in the Sunnydale area. They had by now already come across four newly risen members of the undead on their trek through the first two cemeteries and were currently making their way out of the third. 

Looking over at her partner, she took in the quarterstaff, which Buffy was tossing from hand to hand. "So what's with the stick B?" 

"You don't like it?" The woman pouted. "I think it's kind of neat!" She swung it for emphasis. 

Smiling slightly, the brunette woman shook her head, mumbling an affectionate "Dork." 

The blonde glared jokingly. "Well I like my stick, it makes fun noises when you hit the baddies with it."

At that moment both women's slayer enhanced senses began tingling. "Vamps." Faith said unnecessarily. A group of four vampires stepped out from behind a mausoleum about fifty feet in front of them. Their postures were intentionally menacing as they began a confident approach. The slayers merely stood their ground until the vampires were but ten feet away. 

"Slayers! Prepare to die!" One of the demons announced pointing at them. They merely shook their heads at the lack of originality. Giving Faith a smiling glance, Buffy approached the vamp who had spoken. He seemed entirely confused by their unresponsiveness. The blonde slayer quickly, not giving him time to react, whacked him rather hard across the head with her weapon. The hollow sounding "whap" echoed in the still air. 

While the vampires stared in bewilderment, Buffy turned to her partner. "Tell me that noise isn't fun!" 

Laughing slightly, the brunette shrugged and nodded. It seemed no matter how bad she felt the blonde was able to make her laugh genuinely. She didn't treat the Alex situation as though nothing had occurred, she just put on her best face, she joked, and she smiled. Not to pretend nothing had happened, but rather as a demonstration of affection and strength. The blonde made herself the stable element when all others seemed to collapse. As if that were not enough, Buffy also had the sense to know how much was too much. There were no words to express the level of appreciation that Faith felt.

It was about this time that the vamp who had been whacked regained his senses. Snarling, he growled at Buffy. "Bitch!"  The blonde responded by whapping him again. He seemed even more stunned than the first time as did his companions. 

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" The brunette scolded, tossing a stake that hit him directly in the heart. Before he even had a chance to retort he was but a pile of dust. 

"Feeling lazy tonight?" The blonde asked as she swept one of the three remaining vampires. 

"No, just don't want to get my clothes dirty, packed light. Can't very well be walking around in the buff Buff." The statement amused both even more, with this morning's mishap.

Punching one of the two still on their feet, the blonde girl smiled. "I wouldn't mind."

Looking the dark slayer up and down, the demon on the ground spoke up. "Me neither." 

"Stay out of it." Buffy poked him with her stick and then staked him.  

Sighing over dramatically, Faith took out the last vamp standing with another thrown stake before he could attack Buffy. With a smirk, the brunette responded.  "Geez B! Is that all you think about?"

Smiling, the blonde used a lethal combinations of thrusts with her staff to neatly polish off the forth and last vampire, who had yet to get back up. 

*******

He had given himself the most direct route he knew. Angel had lived in Sunnydale for a good while and familiarized himself with the area. The vampire knew he would get there a good twenty minutes before the slayers. He had given the Buffy and Faith of his world a path that lead them almost entirely around the caves before finally depositing them at the end of the forest. From there the would have to walk almost half a mile back the direction they had come along a rocky trail to the tip of the formations. 

The Buffy and Faith from the alternate dimension had a similarly though slightly less indirect route.  However, once he took into account the fights they would likely encounter within the cemeteries themselves, the arrival times of both teams were likely to be the same. 

Angel now stood at the entrance to one of the large caves in the group. The flickering light of a fire inside dancing along the walls and the sense of danger that stirred in him seemed to say that this was the place. He had never planned on following Giles' instructions to wait for the others. After Cordelia's latest vision, he vaguely recalled the prophecy. The vampire had arrived quite early this morning, before the first rays of the sun were visible. He had quietly, so as not to wake the occupants of the mansion, made his way into the study intent on relocating the text. On the table he found a rudimentary translation of the ancient Babylon. It seemed they already knew. Angel put the prophesy alongside the vision and understood. He read it over and over. He had decided. It would be him that would die, if anyone. If he had to trick the others, so be it, but so long as he had a choice it would not be Faith, not after how far she had come. There would be no burden, no death, not for her. 

With a quick a glance to make sure he was not being followed he entered the cave, hand axe in a loose but ready grip.

   
 


End file.
